Washington
\nIran has \u201csubstantially increased efforts to target US personnel\u201d in the Middle East and other areas, the US national intelligence director has warned in a memo seen by the BBC.
\nJay Clayton\u2019s assessment come as the US State Department makes adjustments to staffing at diplomatic posts in the region, including the ordered departure earlier this week of non-emergency US embassy staff from Saudi Arabia.
\nThe order came in response to escalating attacks by Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthis against Saudi Arabia in the past month.
\nClayton\u2019s memo was marked unclassified and sent to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday.
\nIt said: \u201cThe lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against US citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries.\u201d
\nClayton said he was making every effort to downgrade as much intelligence as possible so Rubio could share it with US State Department personnel.
\nA US official told the BBC: \u201cWhen it comes to our staffing at embassies, we constantly evaluate new information about the security environment.
\n\u201cThe threat of Houthi attacks and of Iranian terror plots targeting US officials are informing our decisions on staffing adjustments for embassies on [Restricted Operations] Status in the region.\u201d
\nAt least 21 people have now been killed in Houthi attacks on Saudi airports since the start of October, according to Saudi authorities.
\nOne missile strike on Riyadh\u2019s international airport on 10 October killed 13 people and injured 308 others \u2013 the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.
\nThe Houthis say the attacks on Saudi Arabia are in retaliation to what they call a Saudi blockade of ports and airports in their territory, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport they blame on the kingdom.
\nYemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition intervened in an attempt to restore the government\u2019s rule.
\nA four-year-old informal ceasefire began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a \u201cmaritime embargo\u201d against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks. Some 155 civilians have been killed in Yemen since, according to the Houthi-run health ministry.
\nThis particular conflict has re-emerged on the backdrop of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
\nThe US and Israel launched an air campaign against Iran in February, killing its leader and prompting the regime in Tehran to retaliate with strikes on US allies across the region and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and gas usually travels.
\nIn June, the US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait, but it collapsed within weeks after the Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated its blockade.
\nThe situation in the Strait of Hormuz has seen oil prices surge, exacerbated by the Houthis\u2019 \u201cmaritime embargo\u201d against Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington Iran has \u201csubstantially increased efforts to target US personnel\u201d in the Middle East and other areas, the US national intelligence director has warned in a memo seen by the BBC. Jay Clayton\u2019s assessment come as the US State Department makes adjustments to staffing at diplomatic posts in the region, including the ordered departure earlier […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-574123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n