Iranian plots to kill Americans abroad have reached an “advanced” stage, the US Director of National Intelligence has warned in a memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Jay Clayton said intelligence agencies had detected a substantial increase in efforts to target US personnel in the Middle East and other countries. The warning was issued in an unclassified memo dated Friday, 23 October.
“The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against US citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries,” Mr Clayton wrote.
The memo does not identify specific targets or countries where the alleged plots are taking place, and does not say whether an attack is imminent. Mr Clayton said intelligence was being reviewed so that relevant information could be shared with a wider group of State Department personnel.
The warning comes as the US reduces staffing at several diplomatic missions across the region. The State Department has placed its embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates under restricted operations, while the posts remain open.
Non-essential US embassy staff and their families have also been ordered to leave Saudi Arabia. American officials have said that threats from Iran and Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi movement are informing the staffing changes.
US authorities have not publicly disclosed details of the alleged plots. The intelligence warning follows a series of security precautions at American diplomatic facilities and heightened concern over attacks against US personnel in the Middle East.
