Dni Chief Warns Of Heightened Iranian Threats In Letter To Rubio

Iran has stepped up its efforts to attack American government personnel across the Middle East, warned Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton in a declassified memo Friday.

The memo, addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, warned of increasing danger to U.S. personnel in the region as President Donald Trump weighs restarting hostilities against Tehran after the November midterm elections.

“Through various channels, we have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel,” Clayton wrote in the memo, which POLITICO obtained from a U.S. official. “The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries.”

The State Department has reduced staffing at several Middle East embassies in recent days, with a brewing conflict between the Houthi militant group and Saudi Arabia only further inflaming tensions in the region.

Clayton added that intelligence on Iran’s plans to go after Americans is “relevant to more individuals than are currently cleared to receive this information.” DNI, he said, will downgrade as much of its intelligence as possible to make it easier to share with individuals who might be at risk.

Clayton, formerly the U.S. attorney for Manhattan, has been at the helm of the country’s intelligence apparatus since his confirmation by Senate Republicans over the summer. CIA Director John Ratcliffe was CC’ed in the memo.

Axios was the first to report on the memo.

The memo comes as the president, who put a pause on new U.S. attacks on Iran until after the midterms in early October, is floating an intensification of the ongoing war when congressional majorities are no longer on the line.

“We may do another little Epic Fury,” he told supporters at a Fort Myers, Florida, rally on Friday. “Or they’ll agree. If they’re smart, they’ll just say let’s get down to business, but I doubt they’ll do that because perhaps they’re not smart.”