Clayton orders staff cuts at seven Middle East posts
A National Intelligence memo cites advanced Iranian plots to trigger the reductions.
By Ivan Dvorak ·
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton directed the State Department to remove non-essential personnel from seven diplomatic missions in the Middle East.
The order followed a warning that Iran has reached the advanced stages of planning attacks on US personnel abroad. Clayton sent the memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, stating that US agencies have gathered intelligence showing a substantial increase in Iranian efforts to target Americans overseas.
The State Department confirmed on Wednesday that it is pulling staff from its embassy in Saudi Arabia due to escalating Houthi attacks on local infrastructure. Reports from CNN indicate that similar quiet reductions are occurring at embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Lebanon. A US official told The New York Times that both Houthi strikes and Iranian terror plots are driving these decisions.
Intelligence officials described threats to US citizens in the region as being at the highest level since the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28. The assessment arrives as the US and Israel consider a new military campaign following the upcoming mid-term elections. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US may do another little epic fury, the codename for the current war.
The Pentagon has confirmed that 21 US military personnel have died in the Middle East since the conflict started. On Wednesday, Revolutionary Guard spokesman Hossein Mohebbi stated that Tehran would adopt a new offensive strategy if the US renewed attacks. He added that Iranian missiles have improved in quality, range, and power.
Reuters reported that senior Iranian security officials have detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if new strikes occur. Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezai warned that cables, data centers, and AI facilities across the region could be hit if war resumes. The US has not publicly commented on the memo, though one official told The New York Times that it is authentic.
In March, a US court convicted a Pakistani national of plotting to assassinate Trump and other politicians on orders from the Revolutionary Guard. In 2022, a Guard member was charged with arranging the killing of former national security adviser John Bolton by offering $300,000 to operatives in the US. This month, US authorities pulled bombers from an airbase in England after a security incident led to the arrest of several men suspected of working with Iranian intelligence.
