US Cuts Embassy Staff Across the Gulf as Pentagon Briefs Trump on Iran Strike Options

Since the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran in February, the conflict has dragged on for nearly eight months. The newest development is a regional pullback of American personnel and a visible military buildup, both under way before any decision on renewed strikes.

Staffing cuts reach beyond Saudi Arabia

The State Department's only formal evacuation order covers non-essential employees and their families at the embassy in Riyadh and the consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott called reports of a Gulf-wide departure order "inaccurate" and said the order applies only to Saudi Arabia.

But U.S. officials have described quieter reductions elsewhere. A U.S. official said staffing is being cut at embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan, with similar adjustments at posts in Bahrain and Kuwait.

"We decided that due to the threat of Houthi attacks and Iranian terror plots we need to reduce our footprint and keep only essential staff," the official said.

The State Department also updated travel advisories for more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries, citing the threat from Iran and the Houthis. The list includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Iraq and Israel.

The memo behind the drawdown

Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton sent an unclassified memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, Oct. 23, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe copied. It says Iran has "substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel" and that "lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries."

The memo names no targets, describes no specific plot and does not list the countries outside the Middle East. Clayton wrote that the intelligence is relevant to more State Department staff than are cleared to see it. He offered to downgrade as much of it as possible so Rubio can distribute it more widely.

U.S. officials have confirmed the memo is authentic. Axios published it first.

Military preparations

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon has given Trump options for renewed action, including strikes on nuclear facilities and infrastructure such as bridges, and assaults on Iranian-held islands. The paper reported that Trump is inclined toward renewed heavy fighting but has not decided.

Trump signaled as much at a Florida rally on Friday: "We may do another little 'Epic Fury'."

The Journal also observed a large delivery of standoff land-attack missiles and bunker-buster bombs aboard the USS George Washington in the Arabian Sea. "We are always prepared," said the carrier's commanding officer, Capt. Nicholas DeLeo. Two carrier strike groups are in the region, and a third, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, is en route from the Pacific, according to Kurdistan 24.

NBC News reported that the U.S. has quietly thinned troop numbers at several regional bases to avoid presenting fixed targets for Iranian retaliation. Kurdistan 24 reported that the U.S. evacuated bomber aircraft from a base in the United Kingdom earlier this month because of intelligence about an Iranian plot to attack aircraft and personnel.

Israel pushes, Trump waits

CNN reported that Israel is pressing Washington to strike sooner, citing Iran's renewed nuclear activity, and has so far been unsuccessful. The New York Times reported that U.S. and Israeli planners have drawn up a "short and intensive" operation of about three days. It would hit nuclear and energy sites and missile and drone systems, and is meant to inflict enough economic damage to push Tehran back to negotiations.

The timing, per the same reports, points past the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Fox News reports Trump is weighing further strikes if Tehran does not reach an agreement with Washington. No final decision has been announced.

Tehran's side and Hezbollah

The Iranian Embassy in Lebanon denied unspecified media reports about the recent Beirut visit of Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh, without saying which reports it disputed.

The Saudi-owned, London-published Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that Hezbollah told Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri it would not intervene for Iran if war resumes. It said Khatibzadeh told Hezbollah- and Amal-aligned lawmakers that Iran would not ask the group to join in. Berri reportedly passed the message to President Joseph Aoun. That account rests on one outlet, and the embassy's denial leaves it unconfirmed.

The Houthi front is more concrete. The attacks on Saudi Arabia have coincided with a rise in strikes on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters. Earlier this month, Reuters sources said Iran was preparing a significantly harsher response if Washington resumes wide-scale strikes on Iranian territory.

What comes next

It remains unclear whether the Clayton memo's downgrade offer produces a wider release of the intelligence to State Department staff, and whether further evacuation orders follow. Trump's decision on strikes is still pending, with the Nov. 3 midterms as the date reports keep pointing to.