WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department is downsizing in four US embassies in the Middle East after receiving intelligence that Iran has stepped up its efforts to target American personnel in the region and elsewhere.
In a memo sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said his teams “received intelligence that Iran has significantly increased its efforts to target U.S. personnel.”
“Lethal Iranian conspiracy efforts against American citizens have reached advanced stages both in the Middle East and in some other countries,” Clayton wrote.
The memo was obtained by the Associated Press and reported earlier by Axios. Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed that the memo was sent to Rubio in his capacity as secretary of state and national security adviser.
The memo was released shortly after the State Department announced it was reducing staff at U.S. embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The three officials said threats from Iran and Yemen’s Houthi rebels backed by Iran are linked to personnel changes.
The affected embassies are all under what is known as “restricted operations” status, which has already reduced their staff footprint. Embassies will remain open.
However, unlike Saudi Arabia, where non-essential U.S. personnel and their families were ordered to leave the country on Wednesday, personnel from the other four countries are not required to leave.
In announcing the troop reduction this week, the State Department specifically highlighted growing threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels and did not mention threats to U.S. personnel directly from Iran. There was a resumption of fighting between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, with the militant group launching missile and drone strikes against Saudi Arabia.
US officials have categorically denied that the reductions are linked to possible new US and Israeli strikes against Iran. THE unpopular war doped energy costs for Americans and posed political problems for President Donald Trump and Republicans, who are trying to maintain control of Congress in the future. November 3 midterm elections.
Trump, speaking at a rally Friday in Floridatouted U.S. military operations in Iran, which have been dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” and said that “we can do another little Epic Fury, or they’ll be OK with it.” If they’re smart, they’ll just say, “Let’s get down to business.”
Mediators are trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to formal negotiations as the war remains at an impasse.
According to Iranian state television, the Revolutionary Guards’ navy has again this week threatened to strike US military bases in the region if the United States continues to help guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for 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 states in the region and the global economy at great risk,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in an op-ed in the Financial Times this week.
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