By Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The FBI has ramped up its efforts to monitor potential threats to the U.S. from Iran following President Donald Trump’s decision to attack the country’s nuclear facilities, two people briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
FBI officials have informed some agents in recent days that they will be exempt from a mandate to focus part of their time on immigration enforcement given the elevated threat level from Iran, the people said.
The directive related to counter-terrorism, counterintelligence and cyber security agents who work on issues connected to Iran. FBI field offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia have canceled rotations for agents to work on immigration issues, one of the sources said.
NBC News and the Wall Street Journal earlier reported the shift in FBI resources.
An FBI spokesperson declined to comment on the directives, but said in a statement, “we continuously assess and realign our resources to respond to the most pressing threats to our national security and to ensure the safety of the American people.”
Iran responded to the U.S. strikes by launching a missile attack on an American air base in Qatar on Monday that caused no injuries. A ceasefire ending days of open warfare between Israel and Iran appeared to take hold on Tuesday under pressure from Trump.
Still, U.S. officials have been concerned that Iran may also seek to retaliate on U.S. soil. The FBI has been especially worried that Iran could direct operatives already in the U.S. to launch attacks, one source said.
Federal prosecutors have brought several cases in recent years accusing people of aiding assassination plots in the U.S., including against Trump, at the behest of Tehran.
The Iranian government has previously denied any involvement in the alleged plots.
The FBI has been enlisted in Trump’s effort to deport millions of people living illegally in the U.S., an area that has not been a point of emphasis for the bureau in the past.
FBI agents in field offices were told in May to start devoting about a third of their time to immigration enforcement.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis)
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