Jay Clayton memo: Iran's assassination plots against US diplomats at 'advanced stages'
An unclassified 23 October memo from DNI Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Iran has 'substantially increased' efforts to target American diplomats and officials, with lethal plots reaching 'advanced stages'.
US intelligence has found that Iran has “substantially increased” efforts to target American diplomats and officials in the Middle East and beyond, with lethal plots reaching “advanced stages”, according to a memo first reported by Axios, as confirmed by the Jerusalem Post.
The unclassified memo, dated 23 October, was sent by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and was copied to CIA Director John Ratcliffe, according to the Jerusalem Post. A US official separately confirmed the memo’s existence to the Post.
The memo warns that intelligence about Iranian assassination plots needs to be shared with more American personnel than are currently authorised to receive it, Times Now reports. Clayton offered to downgrade as much of the sensitive intelligence as possible so Rubio could circulate it more widely, TRT World reports, adding that the underlying intelligence has already been shared with senior State Department officials.
Crucially, the memo does not identify specific targets, countries outside the Middle East, or the nature of the alleged plots, Times Now reports.
The warning comes as the State Department reduces staffing at several US diplomatic missions in the region. Earlier this week, family members and non-essential personnel were ordered out of the US embassy in Riyadh and the consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; on Friday, reductions followed at embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan, a US official said, citing “the threat of Houthi attacks and Iranian terror plots”, Times Now reports.
Sources
- Axios (first reported the memo; the Axios article URL was not surfaced by search and is not guessed here — Axios’s reporting is verified through the named secondary sources below)
- Times Now (chain source, updated 24 Oct 2026, 06:42 IST): https://www.timesnownews.com/world/middle-east/iran-assassination-plots-us-diplomats-middle-east-embassies-evacuated-saudi-houthi-conflict-article-156394659
- Jerusalem Post (US official confirmation): https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-912677
- TRT World (memo obtained by AP, three US officials confirming): https://www.trtworld.com/article/e0cc56aaed02/amp
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