US Cuts Staff at Four Middle East Embassies After Iran Plot Warning

The United States is reducing staffing at four of its Middle East embassies after intelligence officials warned that Iranian plots targeting Americans had reached advanced stages. The embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will stay open but operate with reduced staff.
In an unclassified memo sent on Friday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said US intelligence had found that Iran substantially increased efforts to target US personnel. The memo said lethal plotting against US citizens had reached advanced stages in the Middle East and in certain other countries, though it did not name specific targets or say an attack was imminent.
The four embassies were already operating under restricted status, and staff there have not been ordered to leave, unlike in Saudi Arabia, where nonessential personnel and their families were ordered out earlier in the week. Officials said the moves are also linked to threats from Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, and denied the staffing cuts are connected to any possible new strikes against Iran.
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