Tipsheet

Ex-Top Gun Pilot Says The Threat of Iranian Sleeper Cells 'Is Not a Matter of If, It’s a Matter of When'

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  March 13, 2026 1:30 PM

Retired Top Gun Navy fighter pilot Matthew “Whizz” Buckley warned that the threat of Iranian sleeper cells "is not a matter of if — it’s a matter of when," after several suspected terror attacks have already unfolded across the country in recent weeks and after the FBi warned police in Califronia that there could be a drone attack against unspecified targets int he state inr etaliation for Operation Epic Fury.

“There is probably thousands, if not tens of thousands of Iranian agents and sleeper cells in this country,” Buckley told the New York Post, adding that his sources in Customs and Border Protection told him, “You wouldn’t believe how many Korans and prayer rugs we find in the desert.”

“These people are here,” he said. “So not only do we have potential lone wolf or homegrown terrorists, but we have actual Iranian agents in this country.”

Several suspected terror attacks have unfolded over the past two weeks. These include a shooting at a club in Austin where the gunman wore a “Property of Allah” sweatshirt; an incident over the weekend in which two teenagers were arrested after one threw an improvised explosive device at an anti-Islam protest; and two attacks just yesterday, one in which a man targeted a synagogue, and another in which a suspect attempted a mass shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. And that list is far from exhaustive.

“If I were [Iran], I’d be hitting us in our homeland, to bring the pain home to us,” Buckley continued. “You never want to underestimate your enemy.”

“We have a lot of soft targets in this country — whether it’s a mall, a church, a school — if somebody’s crazy, if somebody is radically supporting this Islamic regime and they want to do damage, they could do some significant damage,” he said.

While several suspected terror attacks have unfolded, it remains unclear if any are directly connected to the Iranian regime.

“We could have an attack anywhere in this country,” Buckley added.

This comes as the United States intercepted an encrypted message from Iran, allegedly meant to trigger sleeper cells across the West.

It also comes as one "unverified" report suggested that Iran might target California with drone attacks in retaliation for Operation Epic Fury.