Washington Cuts Staffing at 4 Embassies Amid Warning of Advanced Iranian Plots
Key Facts
The U.S. State Department reduced staffing at its embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the UAE after receiving intelligence about increased Iranian efforts to target U.S. personnel, the Associated Press reported. The decision came as a memo dated October 23 warned that Iranian plans to kill Americans had reached advanced stages. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that intelligence agencies had received information indicating that Iran had “greatly increased its efforts to target U.S. personnel.” A U.S. official said Houthi threats and Iranian terrorist plots against U.S. officials were affecting decisions to adjust staffing at embassies operating under restricted conditions. The move expands U.S. diplomatic precautions in the region, but does not mean the four embassies are closing or their staff are being evacuated.
The Associated Press said the embassies in the four countries would remain open and their staff had not been ordered to leave the countries where they work. That differs from the action taken in Saudi Arabia, where nonessential U.S. government employees and their family members were ordered to leave on Wednesday. Earlier in the week, the State Department had ordered nonessential staff and family members to leave the embassy in Riyadh and its consulates. These differences show that Washington took measures that varied by country and staffing status, reducing personnel at four diplomatic missions while issuing a departure order in Saudi Arabia. The memo did not identify specific targets, countries outside the Middle East or the nature of the plots, according to Axios.
In the memo, Clayton said Iran’s “lethal planning efforts” to target U.S. citizens had reached advanced stages in the Middle East and other countries. He offered to downgrade as much sensitive intelligence as possible so Rubio could circulate it to potentially at-risk staff, Axios reported. The published information did not identify specific targets or the nature of the plots, so it does not establish that the embassies themselves were targets or that an attack was imminent. The warning puts risks to U.S. personnel at the forefront of the security rationale, while the U.S. official indicated that Houthi threats and Iranian plots were considered together in staffing decisions. The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh was badly damaged at the start of the Iran war and operated with a limited staff for months before some diplomats returned in recent months, the Associated Press reported.
The staffing cuts coincided with rising Houthi threats to Saudi Arabia. On October 24, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched toward Taif and Yanbu, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The coalition said, according to the Associated Press, that the Houthis had launched five drones toward Saudi Arabia early Wednesday and that it had intercepted and destroyed them over Medina and the Eastern Province. A U.S. official linked the Houthi threat to the review of staffing, while the U.S. State Department also cited the heightened threat from Iran-backed Houthis when updating travel guidance. The October 24 update covered more than a dozen countries in the Gulf and Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Iraq and Israel.
The U.S. State Department raised its travel advisory for Jordan to Level 3 on October 23, urging travelers to reconsider travel. The department said Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia could quickly escalate beyond the immediate area and that it had updated the advisory summary to reflect an increased likelihood of armed attacks and Iranian efforts to target U.S. government officials in the region. U.S. government employees need special permission to travel to Jordan, and the department may make further staffing adjustments as security conditions evolve. In the UAE, the department said further adjustments to employee status may also be made depending on how the security situation develops. The State Department said Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia had caused civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions, including attacks on civilian airports and critical infrastructure.
The effects of security risks are also evident in air traffic to Riyadh. King Khalid International Airport had remained closed since October 10 after a severe attack, before limited flights resumed on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Aircraft operated by a limited number of Saudi airlines took off from and landed at the airport, two days after aviation authorities notified airlines that operations could resume with prior approval. Lufthansa and Air France, meanwhile, canceled their flights to Riyadh through mid-November, while Saudia and flynas operated flights on Wednesday. On July 22, the U.S. State Department issued a worldwide alert saying that U.S. diplomatic facilities, including those outside the Middle East, had been targeted, and that Iran and groups supportive of it might target other U.S. interests abroad.
The warning comes amid a regional conflict that Reuters said was approaching its ninth month, as attacks on one of its fronts coincided with an increase in attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The agency reported earlier in October, citing sources, that Iran was preparing a stronger response if the United States resumed large-scale military attacks on its territory. These developments show the widening security risks facing U.S. missions and travel in the region, while the announced measures focused on staffing adjustments and travel guidance. In its latest guidance for Jordan, the State Department kept the advisory at Level 3 and warned that further staffing adjustments could be made as conditions evolve. The U.S. midterm elections are scheduled for November 3, according to a Reuters report.