Terrorist sleeper cells 'primed to blast US back to the Stone Age' if Trump nukes Iran
Undercover terror cells lurking on US soil could blast the nation back into the "Stone Age" if Donald Trump unleashes a nuclear weapon on Iran, a former FBI agent has warned. Fears of an apocalyptic showdown have surged after Trump reportedly weighed up a potential strike on Iran's heavily fortified underground nuclear sites. Iranian state TV has even broadcast chilling drill alerts to terrified locals, warning: "If the US targets Mount Kalang near the Natanz facility with a nuclear bomb, the danger could reach the surrounding areas."
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The article never says that the US has been at war with Iran since February, or that the Trump administration had just resumed strikes on Iran. The Daily Star reported the war itself three days earlier, and the Mirror reported the renewed strikes the same day. Without this the reader takes the nuclear threat as a sudden hypothetical, and sees 'retaliation' and Iran's shelter warnings as coming out of nowhere rather than from eight months of US attacks.
How we know
- Daily Star wrote earlier“The United States' conflict with Iran has continued since Trump's forces struck Iran back in February this year.”Controversial Trump prison cell billboard in Iran ends with 'US President executed' (opens in a new tab)
- Daily Mirror reported“his administration resumed strikes on Iran”Donald Trump insists he has 'total control' after launching fresh missile strikes on Iran (opens in a new tab)
- The Irish Times reported“The debate over the war inside the administration has hardly been a state secret since it started more than eight months ago.”Donald Trump weighs up difficult options to resolve the war in Iran (opens in a new tab)
The prospect of atomic warfare has sparked red alerts from security chiefs. Chris Swecker, an FBI veteran with 24 years at the bureau, warned that retaliatory strikes could see sleeper agents sabotage vital infrastructure back at home. He told the Daily Mail: "I think the most realistic retaliation is that the many Hezbollah cells that are here in the United States already actually take matters into their own hands. They have that capability and they can conduct terrorist attacks here."
Swecker, boasting 45 years in law enforcement, said the retaliation could strike power grids, energy plants, or cripple the global economy through digital warfare. "We face a cyber threat, we face the physical threat. And if the financial system were to be compromised or shut down, it wouldn't take a nuclear missile, it could be done via cyber means," Swecker said. "Or they cut an underground cable that runs under the ocean. We'd be back in the Stone Age for a while."
He added that sabotaging essential services would spark mass panic: "You could put one city and render it back in the Stone Age by taking out the power grid or financial system. That would create huge panic in this country." Former CIA operative John Kiriakou also claimed Trump's team is actively looking into a tactical nuclear hit. "I've heard the same thing from my own contacts at the White House, that the President is considering the use of a tactical nuclear weapon against Pickaxe Mountain so it will penetrate to the point that it will destroy everything that's underground," Kiriakou said on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
While Iran does not have the missile reach to hit the American mainland directly, Swecker cautioned that Western targets abroad and the home front remain in the crosshairs. "We can't discount the possibility that someone pushes the button," Swecker said. "That's one of the reasons that we couldn't have Iran with full nuclear capabilities, because they're not responsible, they're religious fanatics, and their goal is to basically subjugate Western civilization, eliminate Western civilisation."
Meanwhile, Iranian officials in Isfahan have told locals to hide in windowless basements, scrub off radioactive fallout and stay bunkered down for at least 24 hours if the bombs drop. However, Swecker dismissed Tehran's survival broadcasts as psychological warfare. He said: "This is just part and parcel of how they subjugate and manipulate their population. They want to put fear into them."
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