U.S. Intel Warns of Iranian Assassination Plots at 'Advanced Stages'
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton told Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Iran has 'substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel.' Embassies across the Middle East are cutting staff.
The director of national intelligence warned Friday that Iran has “substantially increased efforts” to target American diplomats and officials, with lethal plots reaching “advanced stages” in the Middle East and other countries.
Jay Clayton sent the one-page, unclassified memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also serving as national security adviser. Axios first reported the memo Friday night; The Associated Press then obtained it independently. Three U.S. officials confirmed to the AP that Clayton sent the document.
Clayton wrote that the lethal plotting by Iran against U.S. citizens had “reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries.” He said the intelligence about the plots needed to reach more Americans who could be in danger, including personnel who lack clearance to see it, and offered to downgrade the intelligence so the State Department could distribute it more widely.
The memo does not name targets, countries outside the region, or the nature of the plots. It says the underlying intelligence has already been shared with senior State Department officials.
The warning landed as the State Department was cutting staffing at diplomatic missions across the Middle East. Earlier this week the department ordered non-emergency personnel and their families to leave the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and the consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. On Friday it reduced staffing at the embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar, and Jordan. CNN reported the cuts also reached Bahrain and Kuwait.
In its public announcements, the department has pointed to threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels. It has not publicly said the staffing reductions are tied to the Iranian assassination plots. A State Department spokesperson said the ordered departure applied to Saudi Arabia only; staff at the other embassies were not compelled to leave.
U.S. officials said the staffing changes were not connected to any potential new American and Israeli strikes on Iran, according to the reports.
The region is already on edge. Earlier this week U.S. forces carried out what U.S. Central Command called “self-defense strikes” in southern Iran, and American warships are enforcing a blockade on vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports. The Strait of Hormuz remains the central flashpoint.
