One Memo: US Spy Chief Flags Advanced Iranian Plotting Against Americans in Multiple Countries

Washington has received an intelligence warning that Iranian operations aimed at killing Americans have moved beyond the planning stage. The report lands as the State Department reduces its staff in the region and President Donald Trump keeps further military strikes on the table.

The sequence began on October 23, when Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton issued a memorandum to Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio. CIA Director John Ratcliffe received a copy. Axios obtained the document, and a US official confirmed its contents on Friday.

Clayton wrote that US intelligence agencies had collected information through multiple channels. He said Iran had stepped up its focus on American personnel. "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 memorandum did not identify specific targets, the methods planned for any attack, or the countries outside the Middle East involved. Clayton stated that the intelligence concerning attacks on government workers applies to a wider group than those currently cleared to receive it. He said the underlying material had been shared with cleared senior members of Rubio's staff and offered the secretary an additional briefing. He also said he would work to lower the classification level of as much of the intelligence as possible so that State Department staff at risk could see it.

The warning followed a series of withdrawals. Earlier this week, Washington ordered nonessential government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia after attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis increased. Axios reported that staff reductions were also ordered at embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar, and Jordan. CNN reported on Friday that the United States was accelerating the departure of diplomats and their relatives from several regional posts. Some of those personnel had returned only recently after evacuations earlier in the Iran war. CNN also reported that Israel had urged Washington to launch new strikes on Iran sooner, and that those efforts had not succeeded so far.

Speaking on Friday, Trump said another operation like Operation Epic Fury could follow if Tehran does not agree to terms. "We may do another little Epic Fury. Or they'll agree," Trump said. Diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement with Iran continue while the State Department weighs additional military options.