WASHINGTON — The State Department is reducing staffing at U.S. embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates after intelligence indicated Iran has stepped up efforts to target Americans, the Associated Press reported Friday.
In a memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton wrote that Iranian “lethal plotting efforts” against U.S. citizens “have reached advanced stages” in the Middle East and some other countries, according to the AP, which obtained the document.
Three U.S. officials told the AP that threats from Iran and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels are connected to the staffing changes.
All four embassies were already under restricted operations and will remain open. Earlier in the week, nonessential U.S. personnel and their families were ordered to leave Saudi Arabia.
The United States and Israel have been at war with Iran since Feb. 28.
Sources: Associated Press via KTAR News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Maureen / CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
