A newly circulated US intelligence memo warns that Iran is in the “advanced stages” of alleged plots targeting American officials in the Middle East and other parts of the world.
The warning comes as oil prices climb again and reports circulate that President Donald Trump could consider renewed strikes against Tehran after the midterm elections.
The memo, authored by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, recommends using the intelligence to support ongoing efforts to reduce staffing at US diplomatic missions.
Clayton wrote that his teams “have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target US personnel.”
“The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against US citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries,” Clayton said in the memo.
Three US officials, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the intelligence, confirmed that the memo was sent to Rubio in his roles as secretary of state and national security adviser.
The document surfaced soon after the State Department announced staff reductions at US embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The three officials said the staffing changes were linked to threats from Iran as well as Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
A US intelligence memo warns that alleged Iranian plots targeting American officials in the Middle East and elsewhere have entered an “advanced” phase
The warning comes as oil prices surge and speculation grows that Donald Trump could order new strikes against Tehran after the midterm elections
The affected embassies are already operating under “restricted operations” status, a measure that has reduced the number of personnel stationed there.
Despite the reductions, all four embassies will remain open.
The policy differs from the approach in Saudi Arabia, where nonessential US employees and their families were ordered to leave on Wednesday. Personnel in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the UAE have not been required to depart.
When it announced the drawdowns this week, the State Department cited heightened threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels but did not publicly identify direct threats from Iran against US personnel.
The changes come amid renewed clashes between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, who have launched missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia.
US officials have repeatedly rejected suggestions that the embassy reductions are connected to possible new American and Israeli strikes against Iran.
Our News Outlet has contacted the White House and the State Department for comment.
Oil prices jumped on Thursday following a report that Trump and Israel had developed plans for fresh attacks on Iran once the midterm elections conclude.
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The memo by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton was addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, pictured, and supports further reductions in US embassy staffing
Brent crude gained 2.68 percent to reach $111.74 a barrel. With only 12 days remaining before the midterm elections, the president is under pressure to bring down fuel costs.
Soaring gas prices have sent the cost of living spiraling, leaving Republicans staring down the real prospect of losing both the House and Senate in less than two weeks.
US and Israeli commanders have mapped out a ‘short but intensive’ operation targeting Iran’s nuclear sites, energy infrastructure and missile and drone arsenal, the New York Times reported.
Trump has even floated dropping the 22,000-pound GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the ‘Mother of All Bombs,’ on Pickaxe Mountain, a nuclear site buried deep inside granite.
Officials say the president is smitten with the weapon partly because of its nickname.
Some US planners are convinced a three-day pounding could tip Iran’s battered economy over the edge and force Tehran to cave on its nuclear program after nearly eight months of war.
Trump vowed earlier this month not to strike before the vote, and the full US armada, including three aircraft carriers and thousands of Marines, won’t be in place until early November anyway.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew to Israel this week to hash out the new strikes with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Clayton (pictured) said his teams ‘have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target US personnel’
An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11
But there is no guarantee the attack goes ahead, with Trump repeatedly pulling the plug on fresh combat operations, including at the last minute earlier this month.
Since the war began, Iran has triggered severe global oil shortages by choking off the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries a fifth of the world’s oil, with speedboats, mines and explosive drones.
One Tehran analyst said Iran would hit back at any strike on Pickaxe by targeting major Saudi refineries, including Aramco’s, to send energy prices soaring and squeeze American voters
Trump, speaking at a rally Friday in Florida, touted the US military operations in Iran, which were dubbed ‘Operation Epic Fury,’ and said that ‘we may do another little Epic Fury, or they’ll agree.’
Mediators have been trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to formal talks as the war has reached a stalemate.
According to Iranian state television, the Revolutionary Guard navy this week again threatened to strike US military bases in the region if the United States keeps helping guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the global energy trade.
‘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.
