The encrypted transmission was intercepted by the U.S. Iran may be activating sleeper cells outside the country, alert says.
A crowd holding Iranian flags gathers during a demonstration in support of the nomination of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as successor to his late father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, March 9, 2026.
The U.S. has intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as "an operational trigger" for "sleeper assets" outside the country, according to a federal government alert sent to law enforcement agencies.
Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28.
It's possible the transmissions could "be intended to activate or provide instructions to prepositioned sleeper assets operating outside the originating country," the alert said.
If the contents of the alert prove true, it would confirm the fears expressed by law enforcement officials after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran that sleeper cells deployed around the West could be used for retaliation. »