Major US cities on high alert following airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities

Authorities in New York and Washington are on high alert after U.S. airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday night. 

“We’re tracking the situation unfolding in Iran,” NYPD said in a post on X. “Out of an abundance of caution, we’re deploying additional resources to religious, cultural, and diplomatic sites across NYC and coordinating with our federal partners. We’ll continue to monitor for any potential impact to NYC.”

Shortly thereafter, the Metropolitan Police Department released a similar statement on the social media platform.

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“The Metropolitan Police Department is closely monitoring the events in Iran,” the statement said. “We are actively coordinating with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to share information and monitor intelligence in order to help safeguard residents, businesses, and visitors in the District of Columbia.”

MPD said there are no known threats to the District, but that it will increase its presence at religious institutions across the city. 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass posted on X, noting that following the bombings in Iran, the city is “closely monitoring any threats to public safety.”

“There are no known credible threats at this time and out of an abundance of caution, LAPD is stepping up patrols near places of worship, community gathering spaces and other sensitive sites,” Bass wrote in the post. “We will remain vigilant in protecting our communities.”

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Paul Mauro is a Fox News contributor and former NYPD Inspector who monitored terror cells in the city. 

“[NYPD] will put out special attention patrol cars at locations that could track to the conflict in places that have an Israeli connection, and there’s a couple of Shia mosques – Iran, is Shia – and there are a couple of Shia mosques,” Mauro told Fox News Digital. “You never know what’s going to develop. So [they’ll] liaise with those communities. They’ll talk to them, they’ll put special patrol, special attention patrol.” 

“In some instances, they’ll even put out what they call a ‘HOW’ car, which is called a ‘house of worship car,’ which is, they’ll park a marked car right in front of the location.”

More than anything, Mauro said, the authorities are monitoring online chatter from potentially dangerous bad actors.

“You’re going to look very closely online,” he said. “You’re going to be monitoring a lot of the online stuff. NYPD has a very robust cyber counterterrorism program, and you’re going to do that very heavily.”

Mauro said that local authorities in Washington will do the same, and also that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be keeping a close eye on who is entering the country. 

“You’re also going to be looking closely at things coming into the country, to the extent that you can, like at the border, at the airports … CBP is going to be on high alert.”