FBI Director Warns About Audacity Of Iran Plots

FBI Director Christopher Wray has raised concerns about the threat of Iranian plots, labeling them as distinct and palpable.

Director Wray made the remarks during a presentation addressing prominent foreign and domestic threats to the United States at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, on Thursday.

As reported by AP, Director Wray referenced a significant Iranian plot that unfolded in 2021, involving a foiled attempt to assassinate former National Security Adviser John Bolton. The motive behind this plot was purportedly retaliation for the US drone strike that had targeted Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

Additionally, Wray highlighted a cyber-attack on Boston's Children's Hospital orchestrated by Tehran in 2022 and Iran's covert influence campaign during the 2020 US presidential election.

He emphasized, "That's all on top of constantly trying to evade international sanctions and being the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. So if that's not enough to convince people that this is a serious threat, I don't know what is."

On the domestic front, Wray underscored the FBI's elevation of racially-motivated violent extremism to a national threat priority in 2019, aligning it with the threat level posed by ISIS. More recently, the FBI has intensified its focus on anti-government and anti-authority violent extremism, spanning from militia groups to anarchist violent extremists.