Iran Threat Memo: US Diplomats Leave Middle East Posts
The intelligence report to Marco Rubio arrived as the State Department ordered nonessential staff and families out of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Lebanon, Qatar, and Jordan.
By Giovanni Serrano ·
A classified warning from the nation's top intelligence official told Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio that Iranian plots to kill American citizens have reached advanced stages. The October 23 memorandum, sent by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, arrived as American diplomats began packing up across the region.
Clayton wrote that US agencies had gathered information through multiple channels showing Iran had intensified its pursuit of American personnel. "The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against US citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries," he said. CIA Director John Ratcliffe received a copy. The document itself carried no specific targets, methods, or country names beyond the Middle East.
Clayton offered Rubio an additional briefing and said the underlying material had been shared with cleared senior members of the secretary's staff. He also pledged to downgrade as much of the intelligence as possible so State Department employees at risk could be told more. Axios first obtained the document, and a US official confirmed its contents on Friday.
The warning coincided with a drawdown. Earlier this week, Washington ordered nonessential government employees and their relatives to leave Saudi Arabia after Houthi attacks escalated. Further reductions were ordered at the US embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar, and Jordan, according to Axios. CNN reported Friday that the United States was speeding departures of diplomats and families from several regional posts, including some who had only recently returned after evacuations earlier in the Iran war.
President Donald Trump kept military action on the table. "We may do another little Epic Fury. Or they'll agree," he said Friday, referring to a further operation like the one already conducted if Tehran does not reach an agreement. CNN reported that Israel had pressed Washington to launch new strikes on Iran sooner, without success so far.
Clayton's memorandum did not identify the countries outside the Middle East where plots were allegedly under development. The State Department did not say how many personnel were affected by the reductions at the five posts.
Source: The Jerusalem Post
