The United States has reduced staffing at several embassies in the Middle East after intelligence officials warned that Iran had “substantially increased efforts to target US personnel,” according to an unclassified memo.
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton sent the October 23 memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying the intelligence had been gathered “through various channels” without providing further details.
“The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against US citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries,” Clayton wrote in the one-page memo, first reported by Axios.
A US official confirmed the memo to Our News Outlet on Saturday afternoon.
Amid concerns that Iran could escalate tensions, the United States has adjusted staffing at several American embassies across the region, including posts in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
On Wednesday, the US ordered non-emergency government employees and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia.
“When it comes to our staffing at embassies, we constantly evaluate new information about the security environment,” a US official told Our News Outlet.
The official said the threat of Houthi attacks, along with Iranian terror plots targeting US officials, was guiding staffing decisions at embassies operating under restricted conditions in the region.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was told in an October 23 memo of a possible deadly escalation from Iran against US citizens in the Middle East and other countries
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton told Rubio that Iran had “substantially increased efforts to target US personnel” in the memo, which a US official confirmed to Our News Outlet on Saturday
A State Department official told Our News Outlet on Saturday that Lebanon, the UAE, Qatar and Jordan would experience “temporary changes” to staffing levels while operating under restricted conditions.
Unlike in Saudi Arabia, personnel in those four countries have not been ordered to leave.
The official said there had been “no changes” to personnel levels in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Staffing levels are “constantly evaluated and adjusted” at posts operating under restricted conditions, the official told Our News Outlet.
The official also cited an October 18 security alert stating that the Iranian-backed Houthis had attacked civilian airports and other infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
Houthi rebels repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia’s main international airport this month.
“The hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly beyond that immediate area,” the alert warned.
“We have consistently been expansive in our message to Americans in the region to address the possibility of regional effects,” the official told Our News Outlet.
Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe was also copied on the memo sent to Rubio.
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Nikki Gamer, a spokesperson for the American Foreign Service Association, told CNN that many families in the region were “understandably upset, confused and angry.”
‘This echoes the chaos families experienced earlier this year,’ Gamer said. ‘Some had barely settled back in before being told to leave again.’
A State Department official pointed to a a security alert issued on October 18 referring to how the Iranian-backed Houthis had attacked airports and other infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, where some diplomats have been told to leave (Photo of King Khalid International Airport)
Rubio was told in the memo that the the ‘lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against US citizens have reached advanced stages’
An unnamed US diplomat told the outlet that some families had ‘scrambled then to leave their homes in the Middle East in the early weeks of the war and find new housing and schools for their kids.’
In a statement issued Thursday, the American Foreign Service Association said it was ‘already hearing accounts of bureaucratic ping-pong’ from families.
‘After a year of repeated upheaval, diplomatic families deserve more than another round of uncertainty,’ the statement read.
The State Department official told Our News Outlet: ‘We understand how hard being on Restricted Operations Status, Authorized Departure, or Ordered Departure is for our diplomatic staff and their families.
‘We are committed to using every tool available to help families navigate this difficult time, including the added expenses and school enrollment.’
The official added that the department was ‘communicating directly with staff affected by these latest changes’ and would have more to say in the coming days.
The Trump administration has started preparing to continue strikes on Iran after the midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reported.
President Donald Trump said Friday during a rally in Florida that ‘we may do another little [Operation] Epic Fury’
The strikes on Iran that started the war in February were titled Operation Epic Fury (Photo of Tehran after an explosion on February 28, 2026)
Trump has been briefed on multiple options prepared by the Pentagon and is leaning toward resuming strikes but a final decision has not been made, according to the outlet.
The plans include striking nuclear facilities and infrastructure like bridges and conducting assaults on islands controlled by Iran, the report added.
On Friday, Trump quipped while speaking at a rally in Florida that ‘we may do another little [Operation] Epic Fury.’
‘If they’re smart, they will just say, ‘Let’s get down to business’ but I doubt they’ll do that because perhaps they’re not smart,’ Trump added.
The State Department has also warned of threats in travel advisories for Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Our News Outlet has reached out to the White House for comment.
