The federal government sent an alert to law enforcement agencies regarding the potential activation of Iranian sleeper cells after discovering encrypted communications that reportedly originated in Iran.
ABC News reported Monday that “encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may could serve as an ‘operational trigger’ for ‘sleeper assets’ outside the country.”
The encrypted message was sent across multiple countries following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei, who served as the supreme leader of Iran, was killed Feb. 28 in the initial U.S.-Israeli strike during Operation Epic Fury. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was named as his successor Monday.
The intercepted transmission was meant for “clandestine recipients” who possess an encryption key, ABC News noted.
It’s the “kind of message intended to impart instructions to ‘covert operatives or sleeper assets’ without the use of the internet or cellular networks,” the network reported.
The federal government’s warning said that such a transmission could “be intended to activate or provide instructions to prepositioned sleeper assets operating outside the originating country.”
“While the exact contents of these transmissions cannot currently be determined, the sudden appearance of a new station with international rebroadcast characteristics warrants heightened situational awareness,” the alert explained.
Despite there being “no operational threat tied to a specific location,” the federal government still directed law enforcement agencies to increase their observation of suspicious radio-frequency activity.
Potential attacks on U.S. soil aren’t the only thing Americans have to be concerned about when it comes to Iran.
Gas and oil prices have risen sharply since the conflict began, with oil hitting $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022, NBC News reported.
President Donald Trump addressed energy concerns and tried to calm the waters Sunday with a Truth Social post that read, “Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!President DJT.”
Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!President DJT pic.twitter.com/FFNPK1wflx
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@DailyTruthPosts) March 9, 2026
The commander in chief also addressed the topic on Monday, telling the New York Post, “I have a plan for everything, OK?”
He added, “I have a plan for everything. You’ll be very happy.”
In addition, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News Sunday that energy price increases have “nothing to do with any shortage of barrels of oil or natural gas. It’s just fear and perception — the unknown — that this could be some long, drawn-out crisis. But it won’t be.”
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The president has a range of options to restore stability, including the release of oil from America’s strategic reserve, but has yet to share any details of his plan with the public.
Wright accused former President Joe Biden of depleting the reserves to curry favor with voters during the 2022 midterm election, but added that “we’ve done many other moves that allow the world to remain fully supplied with oil during this relatively brief conflict.”
“What President Trump is doing is setting up a world, for years and decades ahead, of lower energy prices, more stability, commerce over conflict,” he concluded.
Perhaps in confirmation of Wright’s reasoning, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that oil futures were trending downward again, falling to around $96 per barrel.
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