Wednesday, December 15, 2021
The US is cutting staff at embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the UAE as a DNI memo says Iran has stepped up plots against US personnel; the claim is unverified.
The State Department is cutting staff at four US embassies in the Middle East. The posts are in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The Associated Press reported the move on Friday, October 23. All four embassies stay open. Staff there are not being ordered to leave. On Wednesday, nonessential personnel and their families were ordered out of Saudi Arabia.
The official reason and the intelligence picture do not quite match. The State Department's announcement cited rising threats from Yemen's Houthi rebels. A memo from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio goes further. It says Iran has "substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel." It also says the plotting has "reached advanced stages" in the Middle East and in other countries. Axios first reported the memo. AP and CBS News say they obtained copies.
The memo is an intelligence assessment, not public evidence. It names no targets, and its claims cannot be checked from outside the government. We found no public response from Iran as of Saturday morning. Drop Site News had not covered the drawdown. Read the staffing cuts as confirmed and the threat level as a US intelligence claim.
US officials say the drawdowns are not tied to new strikes on Iran. Other signals point both ways. US envoy Tom Barrack told Israeli army radio a strike "this weekend" was possible, according to AFP. President Trump has said there would be no strikes before the November 3 midterms. At a Florida rally he said, "we may do another little Epic Fury, or they'll agree." UN Ambassador Mike Waltz told the Financial Times the war could last another year.
Prices moved before any decision was made. Brent crude briefly topped $117 a barrel on Friday, its highest level of the war, according to AP. AAA put the national average for regular gasoline at about $4.30 on Saturday. It has stayed above $4 since late July. Both are moving numbers and could climb if strikes resume.
Families with someone living, working or traveling in the Gulf can act now. Enrolling that person in the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) sends embassy alerts straight to their phone. Copies of passports and a second route out of the country keep options open if flights stop. Practicing the gray man habit of blending in lowers the profile of an American abroad.
At home, the Iran retaliation threat has been part of the picture since the war began. A current family emergency plan with an out-of-area contact means everyone knows who to call if news breaks overnight. When claims come from every side, identifying misinformation starts with waiting for a second source. Keep your fuel tank above half while prices swing.
