A US official has confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio received an intelligence memorandum this week warning that Iran has significantly increased its efforts to target American officials and citizens, with plots to carry out lethal attacks described as having reached advanced stages.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the US Embassy in Kuwait City. Photo: US Department of State, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The memorandum, dated October 23, was sent to Rubio by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, with a copy to CIA Director John Ratcliffe. It was first reported by Axios, and a US official confirmed its contents to The Jerusalem Post on Friday.
What the memo says
According to the document, US intelligence agencies have received information through multiple channels indicating that Iran has substantially intensified its efforts to target American personnel. "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.
The memorandum, which was marked unclassified, did not identify specific targets, attack methods, or the countries outside the Middle East where the alleged plots were said to be developing. Clayton wrote that the intelligence had already been shared with cleared senior members of Rubio's team, offered the secretary an additional briefing, and pledged to downgrade the classification of as much of the material as possible so it could be shared with State Department personnel who might be at risk.
These are allegations contained in an intelligence assessment; the memo itself, as reported, offers no public evidence, and the reports did not include a response from Tehran.
Embassies draw down staff
The warning comes as the State Department reduces its diplomatic presence across the Middle East amid concerns about Iranian retaliation and the possibility of renewed US military operations. Earlier this week, Washington ordered nonessential government employees and family members to leave Saudi Arabia after an escalation in attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis. According to Axios, further personnel reductions were ordered at US embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan, and CNN reported on Friday that departures of diplomats and their families from several regional posts were accelerating.
Linked to the wider confrontation
The memo surfaced on the same day President Donald Trump, speaking at a rally in Florida, again left open the possibility of further strikes on Iran: "We may do another little Epic Fury. Or they'll agree," he said. For US diplomats and personnel across the region, the intelligence warning suggests Washington is taking the threat of retaliation seriously as that confrontation continues.
Sources: Axios reporting as confirmed to The Jerusalem Post by a US official; CNN via The Jerusalem Post.