The State Department has ordered all U.S. diplomatic posts worldwide to “immediately” undertake security evaluations, citing “the ongoing and developing situation in the Middle East and the potential for spill-over effects,” according to a cable sent Tuesday that was reviewed by The Washington Post.
The cable stated that “ALL posts worldwide” should convene Emergency Action Committees (EAC), multidisciplinary teams designed to identify and plan for threats, and to review their “security posture.” The cable was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and stated that the order had come from Undersecretary for Management Jason Evans.
Though similar orders have been sent to diplomatic posts in the Middle East over past weeks, Tuesday’s order appeared to mark the first time that all posts globally had been ordered to review their security due to the Iran war.
Multiple U.S. embassies have been targeted by Iran and its proxies since the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign started Feb. 28, with several missions temporarily closing and U.S. personnel ordered to leave several countries.
The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was left partially “unrecoverable” after one drone attack this month, with parts of the roof “collapsed” and other areas contaminated by smoke, according to assessments reviewed by The Post.
Though most of the threats have focused on the U.S. presence in the Middle East, there have also been several incidents of violence elsewhere, including gunshots outside the U.S. Consulate in Toronto and an explosion near the U.S. Embassy in Oslo.
It is not clear whether new active warnings or intelligence on potential attacks prompted the State Department to expand the orders for EACs to all posts worldwide. U.S. diplomatic posts should share any credible threat information with U.S. citizens, due to the State Department’s “no double standards” policy, the cable noted.
The State Department did not immediately offer further comment.
Tehran and its regional proxies continue to strike at U.S. diplomatic facilities across the Middle East, according to numerous State Department cables reviewed by The Post.
Militia groups in Iran were assessed to have conducted 292 attacks on U.S. facilities since Feb. 28, according to one cable sent Monday that described “persistent” threats to U.S. personnel in the region. The same cable said that, in some instances, groups of armed men have come to people’s homes to seek information about U.S. citizens.
In another incident, an apartment building housing U.S. diplomatic personnel in Israel was struck by an “intercepted, unexploded Iranian ballistic warhead” over the weekend, according to a separate cable reviewed by The Post. No injuries were reported, but the cable noted that the incident underscored the importance of seeking shelter when alarms sound.
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