📰 8 sources 11 articles · 24 Oct 2026, 00:19 → 19 days ago

A US intelligence memo warns of "advanced" Iranian plots as Washington reduces its diplomats in the Middle East

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio received a memo dated 23 October from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton warning that Iran has significantly intensified its efforts to target American diplomats and officials in the Middle East and beyond, and that plots had reached advanced stages. The information prompted the State Department to reduce staff and relocate diplomats and their families from embassies in Arab countries, and to raise the security alert level at US embassies in the region.

📍 Where things stand: US measures are continuing through staff reductions, the relocation of diplomats' families and a raised security alert level, amid hints of a possible US military option and concerns about potential targets in Europe and inside the United States.

⏱️ Timeline

24 Oct 2026, 00:19 Sources told CNN that the United States is accelerating the relocation of some of its diplomats and their family members from their posts in the Middle East amid growing risks of regional escalation. According to a non-classified memo dated 23 October and addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US intelligence concluded that Iran has significantly intensified its efforts to target American individuals and that its plots had reached advanced stages; the State Department ordered the departure of non-essential employees and all family members.
24 Oct 2026, 03:44 annahar.com reported that the intelligence memo dated 23 October revealed that Iran has markedly intensified its efforts to target American diplomats and officials in the Middle East and beyond, and that assassination plots had reached advanced stages. US officials said this information was one of the reasons behind the State Department's decision to reduce staff at several embassies in the region, including Riyadh, Jeddah, Dhahran, the UAE, Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan.
24 Oct 2026, 05:28 Shabakat Tawasul News reported that the United States decided to reduce the number of staff at four of its embassies in the Middle East amid growing threats from Iran.
24 Oct 2026, 09:28 Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton warned, in a memo addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that Iran has significantly intensified its efforts to target Americans in the Middle East and beyond. US officials suggested the presence of Iranian elements inside the United States and indicated that the potential plans also include targets in Europe, while the State Department decided to reduce staff at four embassies in the Middle East while keeping them open. i24NEWS quoted a report saying that US intelligence agencies received information through multiple channels pointing to a significant Iranian escalation in this context, and that the memo was dated 23 October and sent by Clayton.
24 Oct 2026, 12:35 Monte Carlo Doualiya reported that US intelligence warned, in a memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that "deadly" Iranian plots to target American diplomats and officials in the Middle East and beyond had reached advanced stages, that this information prompted a reduction of staff at a number of US embassies, and that Trump hinted at the possibility of a new military operation against Iran.
24 Oct 2026, 21:08 Asl Masr reported that US embassies in the Middle East raised their security alert level after reports that Iran was in "advanced stages" of planning attacks against Americans. The New York Times quoted a memo by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton saying that Tehran had "significantly increased" its efforts to target American staff in the region and other countries, and that this came after Washington ordered non-essential government employees to leave Saudi Arabia this week.
25 Oct 2026, 09:26 Lebanon Debate, citing US intelligence reported by The New York Times, said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio received an urgent memo warning that Iranian plans to assassinate US ambassadors, diplomats and officials in the Middle East, Europe and inside the United States had reached the operational preparation stage, with some possibly linked to "Unit 840", while Washington withdrew B-1 bombers from Fairford base and reduced its diplomatic staff in Saudi Arabia.

Timeline written by AI from the sources below; updated as new reports arrive.

⚠️ Sources disagree

Number of embassies affected by staff reduction

four embassies in the Middle East according to شبكة تواصل الإخبارية
several embassies in the region including Riyadh, Jeddah, Dhahran, the UAE, Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan according to annahar.com

Figures as each outlet reported them at the time. We do not judge which is correct; numbers often change as events develop.

How the sources covered it

Coverage varied between focusing on the content of the intelligence memo and the measures to reduce diplomats and relocate their families, and highlighting regional military signals such as Trump's talk of a possible military operation and the withdrawal of B-1 bombers, with differences in defining the scope of the affected embassies and the targets mentioned.

CNN Arabic It led with the relocation of diplomats and their families and described the situation as "chaotic", relying on a non-classified memo dated 23 October addressed to Marco Rubio.
annahar.com It focused on the memo's content and listed the embassies and locations affected by the staff reduction, later adding Jay Clayton's warning, the possibility of Iranian elements inside the United States and potential targets in Europe.
Euronews.com It attributed the information to an Axios report and highlighted the description of the assassination plots as "advanced" and the relocation of diplomats and their families from Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the UAE after earlier measures in Saudi Arabia.
مونت كارلو الدولية It described the plots as "deadly" and added that Trump hinted at a possible new military operation against Iran.
i24NEWS It stressed that intelligence agencies received information through multiple channels about a significant Iranian escalation, and that the memo was sent by Jay Clayton to Rubio and dated 23 October.
Lebanon Debate It broadened the scope of targets to ambassadors and diplomats in the Middle East, Europe and inside the United States, and noted a possible link to "Unit 840" and the withdrawal of B-1 bombers from Fairford base.