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What are sleeper cells that Iran threatened to activate in the US?
Both the White House and FBI officials are on high alert for Iranian sleeper cells in the US amid the Israel-Iran conflict.
Before the US military struck deep inside Iran's nuclear establishments in the weekend, damaging three of its uranium enrichment facilities, Iran had reportedly communicated to President Donald Trump that it could activate sleeper-cells in the US.
Both the White House and FBI officials are on high alert for these Iranian sleeper cells, a threat the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says has "never been higher".
While the CBP has not identified any credible threat yet, it said "thousands of Iranian nationals" are being documented entering the US illegally.
What are sleeper cells?
Sleeper cells are spies or terrorists who lead normal, unsuspecting lives in the US. They do not engage with their surroundings so no one takes their notice.
They largely remain inactive, until asked to carry out espionage, sabotage, or attacks from their country.
Potential sleeper cells linked to Hezbollah might be active in the US, several news reports had claimed. Hezbollah is a close non-state ally of Iran and its proxy group based in Lebanon.
Even before the US struck the nuclear facilities in Iran, FBI chief Kash Patel ordered a surveillance of these agents, an Independent news report said.
Sleeper cells warning to the US
Iran had made the sleeper cells threat to the US days before Trump got the military involved in the Israel-Iran conflict, and struck three Iranian nuclear sites — Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan.
The message was relayed to Trump through an intermediary at the G7 summit in Canada last week, an NBC report said. During the same summit, the Group of Seven nations had vowed support to Israel, labelling Iran as a source of instability in the Middle East.
The US on Saturday carried out military strikes at three Iranian nuclear facilities - Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan - joining the Israeli campaign against Iran that started on June 13.
