The head of U.S. intelligence warned Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday that Iranian plans to target and kill U.S. citizens abroad have reached “advanced stages.”
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton sent a memo alerting that “lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages” in the Middle East and other countries. Iran has “substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel” abroad, the DNI chief said, adding that the risk is “relevant to more individuals than are currently cleared to receive this information.”
“We will make every effort to downgrade as much intelligence as possible so you can share it with State Department personnel at your discretion,” Clayton told Rubio in the unclassified memo, on which CIA Director John Ratcliffe was also copied.
The development follows Iran’s threats to intensify attacks against the U.S. should President Donald Trump decide to renew his war in earnest against the country. During a rally for Byron Donalds (R-FL) on Friday, the president suggested he is considering launching another “Epic Fury” campaign against Iran, referring to the military operation Washington authorized against the country in February.
Clayton’s warning also comes after the State Department withdrew most staff from its embassy in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, in response to missile attacks Iran-backed Houthi terrorists operating in Yemen launched toward the country. Earlier this month, Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid Airport killed at least twelve people, including a U.S. citizen, and injured hundreds more.
Rubio has adjusted diplomatic staffing at several other embassies in the region, as Iran maintains its grip on terrorist proxy groups across the Middle East. On Saturday, the State Department updated travel advisories for more than a dozen countries across the Gulf and Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Israel, citing an increased threat from Iran-aligned Houthis, according to Reuters.
“The threat of Houthi attacks and of Iranian terror plots targeting US officials are informing our decisions on staffing adjustments for embassies on RO Status in the region,” a U.S. official said, referring to the Restricted Operations Status that provides the State Department more flexibility in personnel decisions without having to publicly alert to a change in the status of a mission.
The State Department ordered a further reduction in staff at multiple diplomatic posts in the region, including in Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan, according to NBC News, after announcing Wednesday that the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia would operate only with emergency staff, in response to intensified attacks by the Houthis.
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As Iran and its proxies remain on the loose, Trump suggested at a campaign rally in Florida on Friday that the U.S. could escalate military attacks against Tehran if it refuses to agree to a peace deal.
Iran has pushed back on such rhetoric.
“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.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
