U.S. colleges are ground zero for Iranian sleeper cell activity, experts warn

As the threat of Iranian retaliation intensifies, experts are warning that Tehran may turn to sleeper cells and digital influence campaigns to sow chaos within the U.S., particularly by exploiting antisemitic campus protests and online propaganda.

The warning comes days after U.S. forces struck key Iranian nuclear facilities. In response, the Department of Homeland Security issued a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin citing a heightened risk of domestic terror, including potential attacks by Iranian-backed operatives or radicalized individuals within the U.S.

“The likelihood of violent extremists in the Homeland independently mobilizing to violence... would likely increase if Iranian leadership issued a religious ruling calling for retaliatory violence,” the bulletin said.

Sleeper cells, operatives embedded in a foreign country to blend in before carrying out attacks, are now at the forefront of expert concern, particularly as Iran’s traditional terror proxies appear weakened.

According to Barak Seener, a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, Tehran is losing its ability to rely on groups like Hezbollah and Hamas due to financial and logistical strain.

“Iran’s terrorist proxies have been severely degraded,” Seener told Fox News Digital. “That’s why Iran may turn to sleeper cells to flex power, in the U.S., U.K., Europe, or even Asia.”

Seener said these cells could conduct surveillance and eventually target community centers or government officials. “Iran is not new to this game,” he warned.

With both traditional military retaliation and proxy warfare constrained, experts say covert action on American soil, via infiltration, digital manipulation, or domestic unrest, may become Iran’s preferred playbook.