US: Iran's Plans to Attack Americans in 'Advanced Stages'

The State Department is reducing staffing at four US embassies in the Middle East after receiving intel that Iran has stepped up efforts to target American personnel in the region and elsewhere. In a memo sent on Friday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said his teams "have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target US personnel," reports the AP. "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.

The memo was obtained by the AP and reported earlier by Axios. The memo emerged shortly after the State Department announced it's reducing staff at the US embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Three US officials said the threats from Iran and Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are related to the staffing changes. The embassies involved are all under what's known as "restricted operations" status that has already reduced the size of their personnel footprints.

The embassies will remain open. However, unlike in Saudi Arabia, where nonessential US personnel and their families were ordered on Wednesday to leave the country, staff in the other four countries aren't compelled to depart. In announcing the staffing drawdowns this week, the State Department pointed specifically to increased threats from Yemen's Houthi rebels and didn't mention threats to US personnel directly from Iran. US officials have adamantly denied the drawdowns are tied to any potential new US and Israeli strikes on Iran.