Iran 'in advanced stages' of plans to target Americans living in Europe
Iran is in 'advanced stages' of plans to target Americans across the world including in Europe, according to reports. According to the New York Times , intelligence officials raised alarms to Secretary of State Marco Rubio , warning about the dangers faced by State Department employees in the Middle East and other regions, the officials said. The Iranian plans also include potential targets in Europe, US officials said. A memo from Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, said that agencies had “received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target US personnel.
"The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries.” It comes after the US ordered its diplomats and their families to evacuate Saudi Arabia over security concerns there. The US State Department is reducing staffing at four embassies in the Middle East after receiving intelligence regarding Iran's intentions. Staff have been reduced in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The article never says that Clayton's memo gave no detail of the intelligence beyond saying it came 'through various channels'. Without this, a reader assumes the 'advanced stages' claim rests on evidence the memo set out.
How we know
- Daily Mail reported“who said the intelligence had been received 'through various channels,' though he did not elaborate”Americans evacuated across Middle East as US intelligence chief warns Iranian death plot is in 'advanced stages' (opens in a new tab)
The embassies involved are all under what is known as “restricted operations” status that has already reduced the size of their personnel footprints. The embassies will remain open. However, unlike in Saudi Arabia, where nonessential U.S. personnel and their families were ordered Wednesday to leave the country, staff in the other four countries are not compelled to depart. According to Iranian state television, the Revolutionary Guard navy this week again threatened to strike US military bases in the region if the United States keeps helping guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the global energy trade.
“Any further escalation around the Strait of Hormuz or elsewhere in the region will put civilian lives and the well-being of all regional states and the global economy at great risk,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in an opinion column in the Financial Times this week. Mediators have been trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to formal talks as the war has reached a stalemate.
Read the original article on mirror.co.uk (opens in a new tab)