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The FBI warned police departments in California in recent days that Iran could retaliate for American attacks by launching drones at the West Coast, according to an alert reviewed by ABC News.
“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 State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran,” according to the alert distributed at the end of February. “We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack.”
The warning came just as the Trump administration launched its ongoing assault against the Islamic Republic. Iran has been retaliating with drone strikes against targets throughout the Mideast.
How is Iran going to get the drones over there?
They could be carried.
A swallow carrying a drone?
European or African swallow, they have different unladen velocities.
Some Russian drones fly over Europe from time to time, to test the defences and/or gather intel. They launch from vessels that look civilians, sail under a third party flag, and transport legit goods to further confuse investigations.
Ukraine did a remarkable strike deep inside Russia by having their attack drones carried in a truck driven by a Russian driver who had no clue what he was carrying.
So the drones may have been dispatched some time ago and could very well be on US soil waiting to be activated, or they could be transported on any vessel around.
Are you claiming that Iran has had a boat floating around the Pacific loaded up with drones for the express purpose of striking California? Because Iran would have had to launch that boat a long time ago to be relevant right now.
Driving a truck into your neighbor’s backyard is very different from sending a boat loaded up with flying go-karts to act as retaliation. That kind of MAD only works as deterrence if the threatening party informs others of the threat.
I’m saying they could, and could have had these for a while, they may have a few ones that they were sending just to check if the US would detect them, they may have some on the go as a permanent operation, just like a patrol. I would say that’s unlikely, because the risk of getting caught was probably perceived as bigger than the benefit of having a strike opportunity. But as several others said before: sea traffic is barely checked.
And another option is they already have some drones hidden on US soils and dormant agents ready to launch them.
When you say it can’t happen, you understand that Russia does it in Europe regularly, right? Once in a while, they will even send drones flying above cities, airports, military bases, etc. just to see if they trigger any kind of response.
Iran does not need to test California’s air defenses. An easier way to hurt the USA would be to bomb US assets in the middle east or closing the Strait of Hormuz. Those are much easier to do for much bigger, immediate benefit.
The cost benefit analysis of striking California doesn’t make sense. The War on Terror showed how the USA would respond to a strike on US soil. The last thing Iran wants is for the citizens of the USA to be galvanized to increase military action in the middle east. Iran would have to be as stupid as the USA to overextend like that and they have not shown any signs of being that foolish.
And yes, beyond all of this, I still think it is not possible for Iran to drone strike California anytime soon. The idea of secret Iranian sleeper cells in the US is absurd, on the level of secret Japanese sleeper cells during WW2.
It directly says how in the post summary.
How did Iran get the “unidentified vessel” there?
Floating, probably.
Where was the vessel loaded with drones, and then floated from?
Do you think all of Iran’s drones are exclusively inside Iran or at no point during this highly telegraphed military buildup could they have “unaffiliated” dockworkers load crates onto an “unaffiliated” ship? This isn’t a particularly complex plan we’re taking about here and international shipping is probably the least controlled transport system in the entire world.
I’m trying to understand Iran’s plan here, as stated by the article.
So now your objection is the idea of launching from boat rather than how could they possibly get drones to within striking distance of the US?
And you think the idea of pre-deploying $35k drones for potential conflict against a president that has been antagonistic to them for almost a decade is infeasible? The county that is known for using proxy forces and smuggling weapons?
Do you have an answer for how they did it, then?
Oh, and make no mistake: My objection is launching from the boat, combined with getting the drones to the US undetected until launch.