Islamic Republic of Iran has ‘substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel,’ including top officials

If agents from the Islamic Republic of Iran succeed in assassinating Trump or some other U.S. official, leftists all over the country would rejoice and gloat openly. One might almost get the idea that they are on the side of America’s enemies.

“Report: Iran advancing sophisticated plots to assassinate senior US officials,” Ynet News, October 23, 2026:

U.S. intelligence has warned that Iran has significantly intensified efforts to assassinate American diplomats and senior officials in the Middle East and beyond, with some plots reportedly reaching advanced stages, as Washington reduces its diplomatic presence across the region amid fears of a wider military confrontation.

The warning appears in a one-page intelligence memorandum dated October 23 and sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The document was first reported by Axios and subsequently obtained by the Associated Press, while CNN reported on the related diplomatic staffing reductions and the disruption facing American diplomatic families.

In the memo, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton warned that Iran had “substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel” and that potentially lethal plots had reached “advanced stages” in the Middle East and other countries.

The document does not identify specific targets, disclose which countries outside the Middle East may be involved or provide details about how the alleged assassination attempts would be carried out. It indicates, however, that the underlying intelligence has already been shared with senior State Department officials.

Clayton also expressed concern that the information was not reaching enough American personnel who could be exposed to the threats. He offered to lower the classification level of as much of the intelligence as possible, allowing Rubio to distribute the warnings more widely.

The intelligence warnings come as Washington has begun scaling back its diplomatic presence across several Middle Eastern countries, with personnel and family members being relocated amid growing security concerns.
Earlier this week, the State Department ordered nonessential personnel and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, including the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran. Officials cited the intensifying attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels as the immediate reason for the decision….

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