U.S. intelligence agencies have warned that Iran’s plot to kill Americans abroad has reached an “advanced stage” as Washington reduces its diplomatic presence across the Middle East amid growing threats and the prospect of renewed military strikes against Tehran.
The warning was contained in an unclassified Oct. 23 memo from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that was obtained and published by Axios, which cited the intelligence as one of the factors leading to the diplomatic curtailment.
“Through a variety of channels, we have received intelligence that Iran has significantly increased its efforts to target U.S. personnel,” Clayton wrote. “The Iranians’ deadly conspiracy to target U.S. citizens has reached an advanced stage in the Middle East and certain other countries.”
The memo also plagiarized CIA Director John Ratcliffe and warned that intelligence related to the Iranian threat involved more State Department personnel than currently authorized to receive it.
Clayton said the information had been shared with appropriately vetted senior State Department officials and offered to downgrade the sensitive intelligence as much as possible so Rubio could disseminate it more widely.
The document does not identify specific targets, reveal the nature of the alleged conspiracy, or identify countries outside the Middle East where Americans may be at risk.
U.S. officials have separately confirmed the authenticity of the memo to multiple news outlets, including a copy obtained by CNN. A U.S. official told Al-Arabiya English-language Washington correspondent Joseph Haboush that Iranian plots to target U.S. officials and threats of attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels are making adjustments to the staffing of U.S. embassies in the Middle East under restrictions.
The warning comes as the U.S. State Department reduces its diplomatic presence in the Middle East to counter threats from Iran and its Houthi allies.
Earlier this week, Washington ordered non-essential personnel and family members to leave its embassy in Riyadh and consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran as Houthi attacks intensified in Saudi Arabia.
CNN (CNN) first reported on Friday the staffing changes at several diplomatic locations, including facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, as U.S. officials weigh the possibility of a broader regional confrontation.
The report quoted a U.S. official as saying that on Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department also ordered staff reductions at U.S. embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan.
“We decided that because of the threat of Houthi attacks and Iranian terrorist plots, we needed to reduce our footprint to only essential personnel,” the official said.
The security measures come amid increasingly clear threats from Iran against U.S. forces and military installations in the region.
On Thursday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to expand the conflict to U.S. military bases in the region if U.S. forces continued to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
“The U.S. military must know that if this trend continues, the conflict will spread to its bases in the region,” the IRGC warned.
Separately, Reuters reported on Friday that two senior Iranian security officials described contingency plans for broader retaliation if Washington or Israel resumed attacks, including on undersea communications cables and military installations.
“If Iran is attacked, there will no longer be a red line from undersea cables to military bases, including secret bases,” one official warned.
The developments came as US President Donald Trump escalated warnings of renewed military action against Iran, threatening to launch a new round of “epic fury” on Friday unless Tehran reaches a deal with Washington.
“We’ll probably do another little epic outrage, or they’ll go along with it,” Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Fort Myers, Florida.
“If they were smart, they would say, ‘Let’s get down to business.’ But, you know, I doubt they would, because maybe they’re not smart,” he added.
In recent days, multiple media outlets have reported that the Trump administration is considering launching another military strike against Iran after the November midterm elections. Possible targets include the country’s missile and drone capabilities, energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities.
A decision to launch another operation has not yet been announced.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.