Iran is in the final stage of carrying out plans to attack US officials in the Middle East and other countries, the US news outlet Axios reported on Friday. Staff at US embassies and consulates across the Middle East have been put on the highest alert, and Washington is cutting staff numbers because of the security risk, the report said.
According to the report, US Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton sent a memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 23 October.
The memo said intelligence agencies had received information that Iran has significantly stepped up efforts to target US personnel, and that Iranian plans for deadly attacks on US citizens in the Middle East and several other countries have reached their final stage.
The one-page memo gave no details of possible targets or individuals, the countries involved outside the Middle East, or the nature of the plots.
Axios also reported that the intelligence has been shared with senior State Department officials. Clayton proposed lowering its classification as needed so that Rubio could share it more widely.
The New York Times reported that a US official confirmed the memo on behalf of the Trump administration on Friday night. Officials said the step showed how seriously the US government is taking the possible threat.
A US official told Axios that the intelligence is one of the reasons behind the decision to reduce staff at US embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan. CNN had reported this earlier.
Earlier this week, family members and non-emergency staff were ordered to leave the US embassy in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and the consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran.
Meanwhile, at an election rally in Florida on Friday, US President Donald Trump said the United States could strike Iran again.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report