India, March 12 -- Confusion and concern spread after reports suggested that Iran could target California during rising tensions in the Middle East. However, the White House has strongly pushed back against those claims saying the reports were based on unverified information and should not have been published as a confirmed threat.

The Trump administration on Thursday has rejected the reports that Iran had threatened to attack California in retaliation for the ongoing US-Israel military campaign.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized a report by ABC News, urging the network to retract its story. The report claimed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had warned police departments in California about a possible Iran...