Officials Throw Cold Water on FBI Claim That Iran Sought to Attack California With Drones

AP Photo/Vahid Salemi

On Wednesday, ABC News reported that Iran “aspired” to attack unspecified targets in California using unmanned aerial vehicles.

The source for the reporting was an FBI alert that warned California police departments about the potential threat.

“We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United States Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran,” said the alert, which was sent out in late February. “We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack.”

The FBI’s use of the nebulous term ‘aspired to’ left much to the imagination, as the bureau did not say how close Iran was to realizing the alleged aspiration.

But hours later, CBS News Senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs said officials told her colleague, CBS News Homeland Security Correspondent Nicole Sganga, that “there is no credible intelligence underpinning the bulletin”:

Multiple US and state law enforcement and intel officials told @CBSNews there is no credible intelligence underpinning the bulletin distributed on the unverified possibility that Iran could retaliate for American attacks by launching drones at the West Coast. “This is not actionable,” a California-based federal law enforcement official told CBS.

“All this means is we got this information and we want to get it out to law enforcement executives to make sure they’re up to speed on it,” another California law enforcement official said. “There is absolutely nothing more to it.”

The bulletin to local law enforcement by the FBI’s Los Angeles division stemmed from an apparent tip that surfaced **prior** to the Iranian conflict.
via @NicoleSganga

The U.S. and Israel began their most recent bombing campaign of Iran 11 days ago. More than 1,000 Iranians have been killed since last Saturday, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of top officials. An elementary school was hit in southern Iran, killing at least 175 people, mostly children. Trump administration officials reportedly believe the U.S. was responsible, though so far the president denies it. Seven Americans have been killed by Iranian retaliatory strikes.

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