Author: M Barbu

Abstract: The 12-day Iran war may be over, but the threat of Iranian reprisal attacks now looms large, and will for the foreseeable future. European authorities exposed plots in Sweden and Germany even as the war was being waged, and Israeli authorities issued a warning over potential attacks in the United Arab Emirates a couple of weeks later, specifically citing heightened concerns in the wake of the war with Iran. Iranian operatives or their agents could also attempt to carry out attacks inside the United States, leveraging what U.S. counterterrorism officials have describe as a “homeland option” developed over years. Given the U.S. role in bombing the Fordow nuclear complex, it should not be a surprise that U.S. authorities quickly issued a terrorism advisory warning of potential Iranian plots in the homeland. Drawing on past cases of Iranian plots in the United States and elsewhere, this article explores the primary pathways available to Iran conduct or enable a terrorism act in the United States. These include deploying Iranian agents, criminal surrogates, terrorist proxies, or actively seeking to inspire lone offenders to carry out attacks within the homeland.

There are approximately 50,000 veteran Islamic State members and their families currently being held at 27 prisons and detention centers across northeast Syria. They have been a frequent target of prison break attempts over the years, some of which have succeeded in freeing jihadists who have gone on to reinforce the group’s ranks.

After the fall of the Assad regime, two main military forces now remain in Syria with two opposing ideologies and irreconcilable visions: the so-called Syrian government, which is made up of Turkish-backed jihadi factions, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is comprised of Kurdish, Arab, and Christian forces. While the SDF are pro-West and democratic, the Syrian government is pro-sharia and is ideologically aligned with ISIS. Despite its attempts to project moderation, its extremist ideology and reliance on extremist groups have only fueled sectarian violence and enabled the resurgence of ISIS across Syria.