The top U.S. intelligence official has warned of growing threats to American officials abroad, saying that Iran has increased its efforts to target and kill them.
The United States has “received intelligence that Iran substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel,” according to a memo sent Friday by Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A U.S. official confirmed the memo to reporters on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the State Department. The contents of the memo were reported earlier by Axios.
“The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries,” the message to Rubio said.
The official said the State Department was evaluating staffing at U.S. embassies, including reviewing whether to put some embassies and consulates on “restricted operations” status, in which the number of personnel would be reduced and diplomats’ families would be instructed to leave.
Earlier this week, the State Department ordered nonemergency U.S. staffers and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia, following escalated attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi militants.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran in February, the conflict has sprawled into broader hostilities, drawing retaliatory attacks by Tehran on Persian Gulf nations and by Hezbollah in Lebanon on Israel. Some 50,000 U.S. troops are deployed in the Middle East.
The war, which has driven up global fuel prices, is deeply unpopular with U.S. voters. Americans’ frustration with higher gasoline prices is putting President Donald Trump and his Republican allies on the defensive ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The U.S. military has been preparing in recent weeks for a possible surge of thousands of naval forces to the Middle East as Trump considers renewing strikes.
That planning is meant to create flexibility for the president and commanders overseeing the war by moving up to three aircraft carriers and their escort ships into the region in November, according to officials who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss military movements.
Clayton wrote in Friday’s memo that he was seeking to downgrade the classification of “as much intelligence as possible” so that Rubio could share it with State Department personnel.
Rachel Chason, Lior Soroka and Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.
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