US pulls staff from seven Middle East posts after intelligence warning

The United States is removing non-essential staff from seven diplomatic missions in the Middle East following a warning that Iran has reached advanced stages in planning attacks on American personnel. The State Department announced the withdrawals on Wednesday, citing escalating threats in the region.

Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton sent the alert to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The memo states that US intelligence agencies have gathered evidence showing Iran has substantially increased its efforts to target US personnel overseas. Clayton wrote that lethal plots are now in advanced stages in the Middle East and other countries.

Axios first reported the existence of the memo, while The New York Times confirmed its authenticity with US officials. The Times reported that threats to American officials, including ambassadors, have been assessed in recent weeks. It also noted that Iran has identified potential targets in Europe and that some intelligence suggests Iranian operatives are already active inside the United States.

The State Department initially cited escalating attacks on Saudi infrastructure by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen for the staff reductions at the embassy in Saudi Arabia. CNN reported that similar quiet reductions are occurring at embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Lebanon. A US official told The New York Times that both Houthi attacks and Iranian terror plots targeting US officials are driving these decisions.

The threat level for US citizens in the Middle East is now at its highest since the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28. This assessment comes as reports suggest the US and Israel may be preparing a new military campaign after next month's mid-term elections. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US may do another little epic fury, using the codename for the ongoing conflict.

Iran has not publicly responded to the memo. However, Revolutionary Guard spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said on Wednesday that Tehran would adopt a new offensive strategy if the US renewed attacks. He stated that Iran would no longer limit itself to retaliation and added that the quality, range, and power of Iranian missiles had improved. Reuters reported that senior Iranian security officials have detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if new US-Israeli attacks occur.

The Pentagon has confirmed that 21 US military personnel have been killed in the Middle East since the war began. In March, a US court convicted a Pakistani national of plotting to assassinate President Trump and other politicians on orders from the Revolutionary Guard. In 2022, a Guard member was charged with arranging the killing of former national security adviser John Bolton. This month, US authorities pulled bombers from an airbase in England after a security incident that led to the arrest of several men suspected of working with Iranian intelligence.