Fear of drone attacks in California

Amidst the ongoing tense military situation between the United States, Israel, and Iran, a controversial intelligence warning that Iran was planning to launch drone attacks on American soil recently became a hot topic of discussion. This information came to light through a security notice issued by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to California law enforcement agencies and the Joint Terrorism Task Force in late February 2026.

The notice stated that unconfirmed intelligence had been received that if the US attacked Iran, Iran intended to launch a sudden drone attack from an unknown vessel off the coast of California in response. However, this was merely a preparatory notice and did not contain any specific information regarding the time, targets, or methodology of the attack.

As this confidential notice leaked to mainstream media around March 11, it generated significant publicity. Leading international media outlets such as ABC, Reuters, LA Times, and CBS reported on it, causing widespread public panic and contributing to heightened security for the upcoming Academy Awards. While some media reports exaggerated with headlines speculating that this could be similar to a 'September 11th attack', security experts pointed out that it was merely unconfirmed and baseless information. They also emphasized that crossing the Pacific Ocean with a drone-carrying vessel and attacking California without being detected by the radar systems of the US Navy and Coast Guard would be practically and technically an extremely difficult task.

In light of this situation, American authorities and government officials took steps to strongly refute these media reports. California Governor Gavin Newsom stated that there was no immediate threat to his state and that security forces were on normal alert. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt condemned these media reports as false and irresponsible, firmly asserting that there was no threat from Iran to American soil. President Trump also dismissed concerns about this attack risk, and the FBI confirmed that the notice in question was merely a routine intelligence exchange. While Iran is currently launching drone and missile attacks on American and Israeli targets in the Middle East region, such as Kuwait, Iraq, and Bahrain, there has been no actual evidence reported so far that this military situation has in any way extended to the American mainland.