US intelligence memo warns Iranian plots against Americans have reached ‘advanced stages’
publishers 17articles 17first reported 24 Oct, 03:24 UTCdeveloping since 24 Oct · 7 editions
Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel, and lethal plots against Americans have reached “advanced stages” in the Middle East and some other countries, according to a declassified U.S. intelligence memo dated Friday.
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton sent the warning to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe copied on the memo. The document was first reported by Axios and subsequently described by several news organizations.
The warning followed U.S. staffing reductions at diplomatic missions in the region. The State Department on Wednesday ordered nonemergency government employees and their family members to leave U.S. missions in Saudi Arabia and planned to withdraw family members from several other missions. It also updated travel advisories Saturday for more than a dozen countries across the Gulf and Middle East.
A U.S. official said the threat of attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi forces and Iranian plots targeting U.S. officials were informing embassy staffing decisions. Washington has said it continually reviews security conditions when determining staffing levels.
The alert comes amid intensified Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and a rise in attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump on Friday also suggested that the United States could renew military operations against Iran, though he gave no indication of timing.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 7 articles, 3 with the publisher's own text; 7 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 18 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 17
- Source articles
- 17
- Given to the writer
- 7, 3 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 7
- This version written
- 18 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- revised
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: Revise the sentence to avoid unsupported attribution of the Strait of Hormuz shipping attacks to Houthi forces. - "The alert comes amid intensified Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.": The source attributes the intensified attacks on Saudi Arabia to the Houthis but only says those attacks coincided with a rise in attacks on commercial shipping; it does not attribute the shipping attacks to the Houthis.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
US intelligence memo warns Iranian plots against Americans have reached ‘advanced stages’
Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel, and lethal plots against Americans have reached “advanced stages” in the Middle East and some other countries, according to a declassified U.S. intelligence memo dated Friday. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton sent the warning to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe copied on the memo. The document was first reported by Axios and subsequently described by several news organizations. The warning followed U.S. staffing reductions at diplomatic missions in the region. The State Department on Wednesday ordered nonemergency government employees and their family members to leave U.S. missions in Saudi Arabia and planned to withdraw family members from several other missions. It also updated travel advisories Saturday for more than a dozen countries across the Gulf and Middle East. A U.S. official said the threat of attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi forces and Iranian plots targeting U.S. officials were informing embassy staffing decisions. Washington has said it continually reviews security conditions when determining staffing levels. The alert comes amid intensified Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and a rise in attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump on Friday also suggested that the United States could renew military operations against Iran, though he gave no indication of timing.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →