White House suspends security bulletin warning of Iran-related threats to the United States
NEW YORK, March 7 (Reuters) – The White House has suspended, at least for now, a federal security bulletin that warns of a heightened threat to the United States in light of the conflict in Iran, a Trump administration official told Reuters.
The bulletin from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center is intended for state and local law enforcement agencies. The Trump administration asked an agency to delay immediate release of the bulletin for review to ensure its accuracy, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal government matters.
The warning, which was drafted by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis, did not offer enough information and was not well written, the official told Reuters. The Daily Mail reported Friday that the White House blocked publication of the bulletin containing specific details about how Iranian proxies can carry out attacks across the United States.
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The FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security told Reuters that it is normal procedure for the agency to share intelligence bulletins with the White House for review before sending them.
“The White House is coordinating closely with all government agencies to ensure that the information being disseminated is accurate, up-to-date and has been properly vetted, even if that means taking additional time to review it and ensure nothing is done in a vacuum,” the White House said in a statement.
The attack on Iran is the largest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Since last week, the United States has completed more than a dozen charter flights and evacuated thousands of Americans from the Middle East, the State Department said Saturday.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington, Nandita Bose in Miami and Nicole Jao in New York; Editing by Sergio Non and Franklin Paul)