US intelligence indicates Iran is in “advanced stages” of plotting attacks on US government personnel in the Middle East and certain other countries, the US director of national intelligence said Friday.
In a memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jay Clayton said Iran had “substantially increased” its “lethal” plotting against American diplomats and other government personnel.
Also on Friday, the State Department updated its travel advisories for 13 Middle Eastern countries to reflect the perceived heightened Iranian threat to US officials.
Concerns about attacks on US government personnel prompted the State Department on Friday to order the departure of non-emergency personnel and dependents from Saudi Arabia. Ongoing missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Houthi militia, an ally of Iran, also contributed to that move.
The US-Iran war currently is at low boil.
But negotiations to end the conflict have broken down and there are serious concerns about a major escalation in hostilities in coming days and weeks.
Recent military deployments have made clear President Donald Trump is weighing renewed heavy bombing of Iran.
Iran repeatedly has indicated that it could go beyond its targeting of US military bases in the region with missiles and drones and systematically strike oil industry facilities and critical infrastructure in the Gulf Arab countries.
The Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for decades has seeded the Gulf Arab monarchies and some other countries in the Middle East with sleeper operatives.
US intelligence now has elevated concerns about IRGC terrorist attacks on US government personnel.
This service long assessed that the IRGC probably would not target American or other Western civilians in terrorist attacks.
That remains our assessment. Yet nothing can be taken for granted given the extent to which the Iran-US war has overturned regional security norms.
All but critical travel to Saudi Arabia should be put on hold.
Personnel should avoid all Saudi airports. The alternative for Riyadh and Dammam is airports in Bahrain and Qatar, with airports in the United Arab Emirates and in some cases Kuwait fallback options. The alternative for Jeddah and Yanbu is Jordanian airports, if not travel to airports in Gulf Arab countries.
In addition to airports, oil industry facilities, military bases and major government buildings in Saudi Arabia are prime Houthi missile and drone targets and should be avoided.
Personnel throughout Saudi Arabia constantly should monitor security advice from local authorities and their embassies.
Saudi Arabia’s southwestern provinces of Najran, Jizan and Asir should be avoided entirely. Taif ideally should be avoided.
Throughout Saudi Arabia, no information about or images of missile or drone attacks or military-related apparatus should be shared on social media due to the strictly enforced wartime censorship. The US Embassy said Americans recently have been arrested for sharing war-related images.
Personnel may undertake travel to other countries south of Turkey with the exceptions of Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
Personnel traveling to the Gulf Arab countries, Jordan or Israel constantly should monitor regional tensions. They and their employers should be cognizant that commercial flights could be disrupted if US-Iran hostilities escalate and that employers would bear the responsibility of repatriating stranded personnel.
Personnel in all Gulf Arab countries should steer well clear of US diplomatic facilities, oil and gas infrastructure, and military bases – all of which are potential IRGC Iranian missile and drone targets. They should monitor the advice of local authorities and their embassies. In the event of an air attack alert, personnel outdoors should seek shelter and those indoors should give wide berth to windows. High-rises are not ideal places to be during air attack alerts, and those in one should keep in mind that underground parking garages are relatively secure from drones but not immune and that stairways rather than elevators should be used in the event of drone attack or fire.
Personnel in Israel should remain well clear of the border with Lebanon, where a fragile truce is in place between Israeli troops and the local Shia militia Hizbollah, an Iranian proxy. They should familiarize themselves with the nearest bomb shelters and be prepared to heed air attack alerts and related instructions from authorities.
Personnel in Jordan should monitor advisories from local authorities and their embassies.
