US national intelligence chief Jay Clayton has warned that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target Americans in the Middle East and beyond, according to The Hindu. The warning, issued on Friday, October 23, 2026, comes as Iran plots Americans intelligence officials describe as advanced in some countries.
In a memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Clayton said lethal Iranian plotting against U.S. citizens has reached advanced stages in the Middle East and certain other countries, according to the Straits Times. The Axios outlet first reported the memo, and a US official confirmed it, but the memo text has not been independently published.
US officials said agencies assess the threat against Americans in the Middle East and several other countries is at its highest level since the war began in February, according to the Straits Times. One official said some intelligence indicates Iran may have operatives in the United States. Iranian plans reportedly include potential targets in Europe. These details are unconfirmed and attributed only to unnamed officials.
The State Department has already acted in the region. On October 21, it ordered non-essential employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, amid near-daily attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, according to State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, as reported by the Straits Times.
The Houthi group is Iran-backed, and according to The Hindu it has carried out near-daily attacks on Saudi Arabia this month. One of those included a strike on Riyadh’s international airport, the deadliest in the kingdom in years.
The conflict dates to late February, when U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran killed the country’s supreme leader and senior military commanders, according to The Hindu.
The assessments are not uniform. While US officials described the threat as at its highest level since February, another US official cautioned that Iran’s ability to carry out attacks in the US and overseas is limited, and that its ambitions to strike exceed its capability, according to the Straits Times.
The same day, President Donald Trump suggested the US might launch renewed military operations against Iran. He said, ‘We may do another little Epic Fury,’ according to The Hindu. He did not indicate a timing.
Several gaps remain. The White House did not reply to a request for comment, and Clayton’s office and the CIA declined to comment, according to the Straits Times. The sources include no response from the Iranian government. Most of the reporting relies on The Hindu and the Straits Times, and the key details on the memo come from a single US official’s confirmation.
For now, the next question is whether the threat assessments lead to further action. Trump has not set a timeline for any renewed operations, and the State Department’s decisions on embassy staffing will depend on how the threats are assessed.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.