Iranian Sleeper Cells Threaten American Colleges and Universities.

WHAT HAPPENED: Experts warn that Iranian operatives on American college campuses present a threat due to Biden’s lax border policies, which enabled the entry of terrorists. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued warnings about increased threats from Iranian-backed groups following the Israel-Iran conflict.

WHO WAS INVOLVED: Iranian students, DHS, and federal law enforcement.

WHEN & WHERE: American colleges and universities, 2025

KEY QUOTE: “The likelihood of violent extremists in the Homeland independently mobilizing to violence in response to the conflict would likely increase if Iranian leadership issued a religious ruling calling for retaliatory violence against targets in the Homeland.” – DHS.

IMPACT: Iranian “sleeper cells” pose a terrorism risk, particularly in schools and public spaces.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and researchers at the Henry Jackson Society are warning that Iranian operatives could seek to target American colleges in retaliation for recent U.S. strikes on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities. They believe “sleeper cells” who have entered the U.S. as foreign students could potentially execute a terror attack or other politically motivated act of violence.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin highlighting an elevated threat of domestic terrorism posed by both Iranian-backed groups and domestic attackers. The bulletin states, “The likelihood of violent extremists in the Homeland independently mobilizing to violence in response to the conflict would likely increase if Iranian leadership issued a religious ruling calling for retaliatory violence against targets in the Homeland.”

“Iran’s ability to react militarily is increasingly minimalized,” commented Barak Seener, a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, explaining that this has pushed Iran to rely more on sleeper cells to carry out operations globally.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement previously arrested 11 Iranian illegal aliens, including a former sniper, in an effort to preempt a possible insider attack. However, Seener warns that open border policies under the Biden-Harris government have made it difficult to track foreign operatives, adding that Iranian influence may extend to U.S. campus protests through Iranians on student visas pushing anti-Israel and anti-American sentiment.

“Iran will be seeking to flex by activating sleeper cells in the U.S., Britain, Europe, or even Asia,” Seener warned, adding: “[It’s] about conducting surveillance and then targeting either community centers or policy officials.”

Currently, a ceasefire brokered by U.S President Donald J. Trump is holding between Israel and Iran, thanks in part to pressure exerted by the American leader, particularly on the Israelis. While the activation of U.S. sleeper cells is a possible response to the U.S. intervention in the conflict, the Iranian regime may content itself with its failed, largely symbolic retaliatory missile strike against a U.S. base in Qatar in order to keep the peace.

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