Iranian plans for deadly attacks on US citizens have reached an “advanced stage” in the Middle East and in several other countries, US director of national intelligence Jay Clayton warned on Friday.
“We are constantly reassessing new information about the security environment for our embassy staff,” Clayton said.
“The threat of attacks by the Houthis and Iranian terrorist plots targeting US officials is guiding our decisions,” he added.
In a note to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Clayton said US intelligence had received information showing that Iran had significantly increased efforts to target American personnel, according to a US official.
The note, first reported by the US outlet Axios, comes after Washington this week ordered non-essential staff at the US embassy in Saudi Arabia, along with their families, to leave the country following a rise in attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement.
Saudi Arabia has faced almost daily attacks this month from the Iran-backed group, including strikes on Riyadh international airport that killed three Saudi nationals.
The US had previously ordered non-essential personnel to leave the Gulf before the start of its war with Iran, and again in July before President Donald Trump called off another wave of strikes.
Trump said on Friday that the United States could resume military operations against Iran, but gave no indication of when that might happen.
The conflict began in late February with US-Israeli attacks on Iran that killed the country’s supreme leader.
