Iranian Plots to Kill Americans Abroad Have Reached ‘Advanced Stages,’ U.S. Intelligence Chief Warns Rubio

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (TodayViralUSA) — Iran has sharply stepped up efforts to target American personnel overseas, and some plots to kill U.S. citizens have reached “advanced stages,” the nation’s top intelligence official has warned Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a memo that is now helping to drive a drawdown of U.S. diplomats across the Middle East.

The one-page, unclassified memo from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, dated Oct. 23, was first reported by Axios and has since been seen or confirmed by CBS News, the BBC and other outlets. CIA Director John Ratcliffe was copied on it.

What the memo says

“The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries,” Clayton wrote, adding that the intelligence community had received information through several channels showing Iran had “substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel.”

The memo does not name specific targets, methods or countries outside the region, and it does not say whether any attack is imminent. Clayton said the underlying intelligence had already been shared with cleared senior members of Rubio’s team, but argued it was relevant to a wider group of people than those currently authorized to see it. He pledged to downgrade the classification of as much of the material as possible so it can be passed to State Department staff who may be at risk.

Embassies thin out staff

The warning lands amid a run of security moves at U.S. posts in the region. Earlier this week the State Department ordered family members and nonessential staff to leave the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and the consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, following escalating drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis. On Friday, the department also ordered staff reductions at embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan, a U.S. official told Axios.

“The threat of Houthi attacks and of Iranian terror plots targeting U.S. officials are informing our decisions on staffing adjustments,” a U.S. official told CBS News. CBS also reported that the U.S. military has been quietly reducing its footprint at some posts in the region because of the threat environment.

A volatile backdrop

The memo comes as the Trump administration weighs whether to resume military strikes on Iran, with Axios reporting that renewed U.S. and Israeli operations could come after the midterm elections. Officials also fear the Houthis could widen their attacks beyond Saudi Arabia. A Houthi strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport earlier this month killed at least a dozen people, including a U.S. citizen, according to CBS News.

Officials had initially framed the embassy drawdowns mainly as a response to the Houthi escalation. Clayton’s memo makes clear that direct Iranian plotting against Americans is now a central part of the government’s threat picture.