Camilla Jessen
President responds to fears of retaliatory attacks on US soil.
Tensions between the United States and Iran continue to escalate following a series of military strikes. As the conflict intensifies, questions are growing about whether Americans could face retaliatory attacks at home.
When asked directly about the risk, President Donald Trump acknowledged the possibility but offered a blunt response about the realities of war.
Escalating conflict
The latest round of fighting began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched air strikes against Iran.
According to reports, the operation killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei and triggered several days of continued hostilities across the region.
Since then, Iran has carried out retaliatory strikes largely targeting countries in the Middle East with close ties to the United States.
One such attack occurred in Kuwait on March 1, when a drone strike hit a US command center and killed six American soldiers.
Trump’s warning
During an interview with TIME, Trump was asked whether Americans should worry about possible attacks inside the United States.
“I guess. But I think they’re worried about that all the time. We think about it all the time,” he said.
The president added that the possibility is something authorities prepare for.
“We plan for it. But yeah, you know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die.”
Security concerns
Security experts have also warned about potential threats linked to the conflict.
Speaking to CBS News, former Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat protection Sam Vinograd said the situation requires heightened vigilance.
“It is clear that it is an all-hands-on-deck moment, not just for the US government, but for every American when it comes to countering the regime’s ability to attack the homeland,” she said.
Vinograd also cautioned that Iran could rely on proxy actors or individuals recruited to carry out attacks.
Multidimensional threat
Vinograd described Iran as posing a “multidimensional threat” that could extend beyond traditional military action.
“They seek to inflict damage in our physical spaces, in cyberspace and in terms of the actual information that we’re ingesting and digesting and circulating right now,” she said.
The warning reflects growing concern among officials that the conflict could extend into cyber operations, misinformation campaigns or attacks carried out through third parties.
Political ambitions
In the same TIME interview, Trump also suggested he hopes to influence Iran’s future leadership.
“One of the things I’m going to be asking for is the ability to work with them on choosing a new leader,” he said.
“I’m not going through this to end up with another Khamenei. I want to be involved in the selection. They can select, but we have to make sure it’s somebody that’s reasonable to the United States.”
