Iran steps up plots to kill US diplomats in Middle East
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Emily Blumenthal Show biography !Emily Blumenthal
Emily Blumenthal is a producer on The Telegraph’s overnight desk, based in San Francisco. Since joining the newspaper in 2024, she has covered major international stories including wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, the release of the Epstein files and an assassination attempt against Donald Trump. She previously worked at CNN. Emily can be contacted at emily.blumenthal@telegraph.co.uk or on X @emblumenthal.
Published 24 October 2026 5:23am BST
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!US embassy in Riyadh
The intelligence spurred the US to withdraw non-essential staff and their families from its embassy in Riyadh Credit: AFP via Getty Images
Emily Blumenthal Show biography !Emily Blumenthal
Emily Blumenthal is a producer on The Telegraph’s overnight desk, based in San Francisco. Since joining the newspaper in 2024, she has covered major international stories including wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, the release of the Epstein files and an assassination attempt against Donald Trump. She previously worked at CNN. Emily can be contacted at emily.blumenthal@telegraph.co.uk or on X @emblumenthal.
Published 24 October 2026 5:23am BST
Iran has “substantially increased” attempts to kill American diplomats and officials in the Middle East and other countries, US intelligence has found.
A one-page unclassified memo from Jay Clayton, the US director of national intelligence, to Marco Rubio warned that some of the “lethal plotting efforts” had reached “advanced stages”.
US officials told Axios, which first obtained the memo, that the intelligence spurred the US to withdraw non-essential staff and their families from its embassy and several consulates in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Citing the threats from Tehran and the Houthis, the US state department announced it would also reduce staffing at embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the UAE, but unlike in Saudi Arabia, diplomats would not be required to leave.
Suggesting that many officials may not have had knowledge that they could be in danger, the note said “certain intelligence and analysis” about Tehran’s plans was “relevant to more individuals than are currently cleared to receive this information”.
!Jay Clayton, the US director of national intelligence
Jay Clayton, the US director of national intelligence, offered to downgrade as much of the intelligence as possible so it could be shared widely Credit: AFP/Ken Cedeno
The memo did not identify specific targets or their location beyond “US government officials in the Middle East and certain other countries”.
Mr Clayton said he would downgrade as much of the intelligence as possible so that Mr Rubio, the US secretary of state, could share it with US state department personnel who were potentially at risk.
A rise in Houthi attacks has heightened fears of a regional war, with the rebel group mounting increasingly deadly assaults on civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
Officials also believe the Iran-backed rebel group could broaden its offensive to other countries in the region.
Compounding the unstable security environment is a renewed threat of US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
The two countries have drafted plans for a short and intensive wave of strikes on energy, nuclear and missile infrastructure after the midterm elections in November, with the goal of unseating the regime six months after launching the war that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on its first day.
Donald Trump, whose popularity rating has reached a record low of 31 per cent, has been reluctant to take military action before the midterms.
His party is likely to take a heavy beating by the Democrats amid high petrol prices caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
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But Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces probable defeat in Israeli elections on Tuesday, has been pressuring the US president to launch strikes in a last-ditch effort to increase voter support.
On Monday, the US and Israel simulated strikes near Iran’s border, deploying dozens of fighter jets in an exercise that followed a flight path consistent with a potential attack.
Despite Mr Trump’s reservations, Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey, said strikes could “absolutely” begin as soon as this weekend.
!Donald Trump speaks in Florida
Donald Trump said during a rally in Florida that the US could ‘do another little Operation Epic Fury’ Credit: Getty Images/Alex Wong
At rallies to support Republican candidates, the US president has repeatedly floated the prospect of a renewed offensive.
During a speech in Florida on Friday, Mr Trump said the US “may do another little Operation Epic Fury, or [the Iranians] will agree [to a deal]”, referring to the US military’s name for the war in Iran.
“If they’re smart, they will just say, ‘let’s get down to business’, but I doubt they will do that because perhaps they’re not smart,” he added.
As peace talks reach a stalemate, US officials have grown increasingly pessimistic about a quick end to the war, which Mr Trump initially claimed would be over within six weeks of its start at the end of February.
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told the Financial Times that he predicted the war could last for another year.
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Related Topics
Iran War,
Donald Trump,
Marco Rubio,
Saudi Arabia,
Houthis,
Iran
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