In the air and at the border, travel anxieties spike in United States

Iran’s missile attack on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq sent a new jolt of anxiety through the U.S. transportation infrastructure as concerns about security spiked.

Around the United States, airports from New York to Chicago to Seattle already had been on heightened alert in anticipation of possible violence in retaliation for the Jan. 3 killing of Gen. Qassim Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.

At the nation’s borders, land ports of entry already had ratcheted up security, too. 

Iran on Tuesday fired at least a dozen missiles at two U.S. military bases in Iraq, the Pentagon confirmed. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif subsequently signaled on Twitter that Iran did not seek to escalate the conflict.

Iran’s missile strikes are unlikely to change security levels, said Gil Kerlikowske, who served as commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2014 to 2017 in President Barack Obama’s administration.

“CBP will continue to be on this heightened sense of awareness, so I don’t see a significant change in posture,” said Kerlikowske, now a professor of practice at Northeastern University. “I think that CBP will just remain in that heightened alert.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said late Tuesday that it had notified U.S.-based air carriers to suspend their operations in airspace over Iran, Iraq, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

“The FAA will continue closely monitoring events in the Middle East,” the agency said. “We continue coordinating with our national security partners and sharing information with U.S. air carriers and foreign civil aviation authorities.”

Singapore Airlines said in a statement that it has diverted its flights from Europe away from Iranian airspace.

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“We are monitoring the situation closely and will make the appropriate adjustments to our routes if necessary,” the airline said.

Qantas Airways, which flies between the United Kingdom and Australia, said it was adjusting its flight paths over Iran and Iraq, “until further notice.”

American Airlines said it did not have any flights in the region that would be affected by the FAA directive.

Delta Air Lines said none of its operations was affected by the FAA order.

Though foreign-based airlines are not bound by FAA regulations or directives, they often follow its guidance.

In Arizona, Julie Rodriguez, deputy aviation director for the Phoenix Aviation Department, said this week that the security level at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is always high.

“Passengers are always subject to random screening anywhere on airport grounds,” she said in an email. “We employ multiple layers of security throughout our airport system and work closely with the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) and our law enforcement partners.” 

Homeland Security issues warning

The Department of Homeland Security on Saturday issued a National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin, still in effect, that said there was no indication of “a specific, credible threat” inside the United States but warned that “an attack in the homeland may come with little or no warning.”

The bulletin notes that the United States has designated Iran a state sponsor of terrorism and raises the specter of possible Iranian cyberattacks or terror from “homegrown violent extremists.” 

“Iran maintains a robust cyber program and can execute cyber attacks against the United States,” the bulletin said. “Iran is capable, at a minimum, of carrying out attacks with temporary disruptive effects against critical infrastructure in the United States.”

Passengers arriving to the U.S. who are traveling from Iran or have passed through Iran will probably continue to face additional scrutiny, Kerlikowske said.

The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights advocacy group, said more than 60 Iranians and Iranian Americans were detained and questioned at the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine on the border with Canada over the weekend.

Others were refused entry to the U.S because of CBP’s lack of capacity to detain them. 

Those who were detained said that their passports were confiscated, and they were questioned about their political views and allegiances, the council said in a written statement.

CBP officials have refuted the allegation.

“Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country or origin are false,” the agency said in a tweet. “Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false.”

On Tuesday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., sent a letter to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan demanding information on reports that as many as 200 Iranian Americans were targeted for secondary screening and held for up to 12 hours at the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine.

The letter, also sent to Blaine Sector Port Director Kenneth Williams, asks the Trump administration to produce any “directives, orders, guidance, instructions” regarding the screening of individuals of Iranian heritage,” or any changes in screening procedures in response to Soleimani’s death. 

Utilities taking precautions

Utilities also are being vigilant about the security of major infrastructure here.

Cyberattacks on the power grid have been of particular concern in recent years. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy consider such attacks a serious threat.

In Arizona, officials with utilities Arizona Public Service Co. and Salt River Project said they are taking the usual precautions.

“Due to the critical nature of our business, APS maintains a constant, heightened state of awareness of emerging security threats, including physical and cyber security threats,” APS spokeswoman Jenna Rowell said Monday. “In this case, APS’s cyber security team is monitoring the situation with a focus on staying informed of any relevant threat intelligence that may be shared by federal agencies or industry and technology partners.”

SRP also is keeping in touch with government agencies to monitor for security threats, spokesman Scott Harelson said.

“While we cannot discuss specific steps, we can tell you that we have asked all of our security and personnel at sensitive locations be vigilant and report any suspicious activity they might observe,” he said.

APS runs the largest nuclear plant in the U.S., the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix.

Rowell said operations at the plant are normal, with all three units operating. None is undergoing refueling, which brings hundreds of contractors onto the plant site daily for a month or more at a time.

“We are in a standard level of security, as the security teams and employees there are always vigilant about monitoring for and reporting any suspicious activity at or in the vicinity of the plant,” Rowell said.

Republic reporters Melissa Yeager, Ronald J. Hansen and Ryan Randazzo contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: In the air and at the border, travel anxieties spike in United States