Iran delivered a message to Trump at the G7 summit last week threatening to unleash sleeper cell terrorists if the US attacked Iran, according to reports.
| Published June 23, 2025
In a sharply escalatory move, Iran reportedly communicated through a G7 intermediary that it could activate sleeper-cell networks across the United States if airstrikes against its nuclear facilities persisted. U.S. officials, citing NBC News and Hindustan Times, said the stark warning reached former President Trump before U.S. stealth bombers hit Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
🇺🇸 U.S. Responds with Heightened Security
In response, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security raised threat levels, prompting local police in major cities—New York, Washington, and Los Angeles—to deploy extra forces near diplomatic, cultural, and religious sites. The FBI has intensified surveillance, especially targeting IRGC-linked sleeper cells and Hezbollah operatives.
🕵️ What Are Sleeper Cells?
Sleeper cells are covert operatives living normall lives within Western societies but poised to carry out attacks upon receiving orders. Experts warn Iran’s IRGC has cultivated such networks in the U.S. and Europe, with individuals embedded in civilian communities. Security agencies have already disrupted multiple plots linked to Iran since 2022.
⚠️ Rising Fears of Asymmetric Retaliation
Security analysts fear Iran’s regime, feeling cornered and threatened, might turn to asymmetric tactics—sleeper-cell terror, assassination attempts, cyber strikes, or sabotage—rather than direct military confrontation. Recalling past assassination plots, including a foiled plan targeting Trump, intelligence authorities treat these sleeper threats as legitimate and imminent.
Iran delivered a message to Trump at the G7 summit last week (pictured) threatening to unleash sleeper cell terrorists if the US attacked Iran
The US ‘obliterated’ the nuclear sites, including the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (pictured before the attack)
An operational timeline of a strike on Iran is displayed during a news conference with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
🎯 Strategic Gains and Setbacks
The U.S.–Israel airstrikes may have damaged Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, but the strategic fallout has quickly extended into the realm of global asymmetric warfare—reshaping the security landscape far beyond the Middle East.
Gains:
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Nuclear Disruption: The strikes temporarily halted key Iranian enrichment activities, sending a message of zero tolerance for nuclear escalation.
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Allied Unity: Close coordination between the U.S. and Israel signals strong deterrence and a clear red line against nuclear militarization.
Setbacks:
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Sleeper Cell Threats: Iran’s veiled threat to activate covert terrorist operatives in the U.S. and Europe introduces a new dimension of risk—unpredictable and difficult to defend against.
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Domestic Security Strain: U.S. agencies must now divert significant resources to monitor internal threats, stretching the intelligence and law enforcement apparatus.
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Global Instability: By moving the conflict into civilian spheres, Iran shifts the battlefield to homes, cities, and soft targets—raising the risk of mass-casualty events and undermining public security.
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Diplomatic Isolation Risks: Iran’s actions risk alienating even sympathetic international actors, as terror threats against civilians violate accepted norms of conflict.
The US deployed B-2 bombers (pictured) to drop more than a dozen ‘bunker busters’ at three Iranian nuclear sites
Bottom Line:
The battlefield may be thousands of miles away, but Iran’s threat to activate sleeper cells brings the conflict uncomfortably close to Western doorsteps. As the U.S. and its allies weigh the cost of continued pressure on Tehran, the specter of asymmetric retaliation—covert, unpredictable, and civilian-targeted—now overshadows military victory. The real challenge ahead may no longer be striking Iran’s facilities, but preventing its hidden networks from striking back at home.
SOURCES: DAILYMAIL ONLINE – Iran ‘threatened Trump with SLEEPER-CELL revenge terrorist attacks inside US’ days before nuclear strikes
HINDUSTAN TIMES – Iran had threatened to activate sleeper cells in US in response to any strike: Report
THE TELEGRAPH – Iran threatened to ‘activate terror sleeper cells inside US’ if attacked
THE INDEPENDENT – What are sleeper cells and why are the FBI on alert for them after Trump’s strikes on Iran?
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