National | National Security
U.S. intelligence chief Jay Clayton warned Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target American personnel in the Middle East and other countries.
Clayton sent the unclassified memo Friday as the State Department adjusted staffing at diplomatic posts across the region. Earlier this week, non-emergency U.S. embassy employees were directed to leave Saudi Arabia.
Threat assessment and embassy staffing
In the memo, Clayton said Iranian plotting against Americans had reached an advanced stage. “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.
A U.S. official said embassy staffing decisions are continually reviewed as security information changes. The staffing order in Saudi Arabia followed intensified Houthi attacks against the country.
Saudi airport attacks
Houthi strikes have killed at least 21 people at Saudi airports since the beginning of October. A missile attack on Riyadh’s international airport on Oct. 10 killed 13 people and injured 308 others.
The Houthis said the attacks were retaliation for a Saudi blockade and an air strike on Sanaa airport. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 after the Houthis removed the government from Sanaa, and a Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in 2015 in support of the government.
An informal ceasefire that had lasted about four years began breaking down in July. The Houthis then declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks. The Houthi-run health ministry has said about 155 civilians have been killed in Yemen since the ceasefire deteriorated.
Iran conflict and Strait of Hormuz
The United States and Israel launched an air campaign against Iran in February that killed Iran’s leader. Iran responded with attacks on U.S. allies in the region and an effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a route that normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.
Washington and Tehran reached a preliminary agreement in June to end the war and reopen the strait. That agreement collapsed within weeks after Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the United States reinstated its blockade.
Oil prices rose amid the disruption around the Strait of Hormuz and the Houthi maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia.