Iranupdated 48m ago2 min read
Iran Substantially Increased Efforts To Target U.S. Personnel, Memo Warns
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Iran intensified efforts to target American diplomats and officials in the Middle East and beyond. Some plots reached advanced stages, prompting warnings and reduction of diplomatic staff.
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Memo Spurs Evacuations
The U.S. government raised alert levels and cut back diplomatic staff after a declassified intelligence memo warned that Iran had “substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel” and that “The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries.” Jay Clayton sent the memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the Trump administration confirmed the memo’s contents through a U.S. official on Friday, according to The New York Times. The State Department ordered diplomats and other federal employees to leave Saudi Arabia, and it also drew down staff at other missions in the region.
U.S. agencies assess the threat against Americans in the Middle East and several other countries is at the highest level since the start of the war in February. The memo did not identify specific targets or locations beyond “US government officials in the Middle East and certain other countries,” according to Ynetnews.
Who Was Warned
Jay Clayton told Marco Rubio that Iran’s “lethal plotting efforts” had reached “advanced stages,” and the warning prompted Washington to move people and reduce personnel levels at embassies and consulates. Clayton wrote that “Specifically, through various channels, we have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel,” and it described the memo as declassified and dated Friday. A State Department spokesperson told The Hill that the hostilities “have the potential to escalate rapidly, including beyond that immediate area,” when asked about the decision to pull diplomats from the region.
Axios reported the memo first, and The New York Times said U.S. agencies assess the threat is at the highest level since the start of the war in February. The New York Times added that the Trump administration confirmed the memo on Friday night through a U.S. official, and it said the move demonstrated the seriousness with which the U.S. government is taking the threat.
What Comes Next
The U.S. government put employees on heightened alert across the Middle East and moved to reduce personnel levels at embassies and consulates because intelligence showed Iran was in the advanced stages of planning attacks against Americans.
U.S. agencies assess the threat against Americans in the Middle East and several other countries is at the highest level since the start of the war in February.
The State Department ordered nonessential personnel and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, including the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran.
The department moved on Friday to further reduce diplomatic and government staffing at embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while those missions remained open under restricted operations.
The New York Times reported that the memo warned about dangers to State Department employees in the Middle East and other regions, and it said intelligence officials raised alarms to Marco Rubio in the memo on Friday.