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WASHINGTON — <\/span>The State Department is reducing staffing<\/a> at four U.S. embassies in the Middle East after receiving intelligence that Iran has stepped up efforts<\/a> to target American personnel in the region and elsewhere.<\/p>\n In a memo sent Friday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said his teams \u201chave received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries,\u201d Clayton wrote.<\/p>\n The memo was obtained by The Associated Press and reported earlier by Axios. Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed that the memo was sent to Rubio in his capacity as secretary of state and national security adviser.<\/p>\n The memo emerged shortly after the State Department announced it is reducing staff at the U.S. embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The three officials said the threats from Iran and Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels<\/a> are related to the staffing changes.<\/p>\n The embassies involved are all under what is known as \u201crestricted operations\u201d status that has already reduced the size of their personnel footprints. The embassies will remain open.<\/p>\n However, unlike in Saudi Arabia, where nonessential U.S. personnel and their families were ordered Wednesday to leave the country, staff in the other four countries are not compelled to depart.<\/p>\n In announcing the staffing drawdowns this week, the State Department pointed specifically to increased threats from Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels and did not mention threats to U.S. personnel directly from Iran. There has been a resurgence of fighting<\/a> between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, with the militant group launching missile and drone strikes against Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n U.S. officials have adamantly denied the drawdowns are tied to any potential new U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The unpopular war<\/a> has spiked energy costs for Americans<\/a> and posed political problems for President Donald Trump and Republicans, who are trying to keep control of Congress in the Nov. 3 midterm elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump, speaking at a rally Friday in Florida<\/a>, touted the U.S. military operations in Iran, which were dubbed \u201cOperation Epic Fury,\u201d and said that \u201cwe may do another little Epic Fury, or they\u2019ll agree. If they\u2019re smart, they\u2019ll just say, \u2018Let\u2019s get down to business.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Mediators have been trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to formal talks as the war has reached a stalemate.<\/p>\n According to Iranian state television, the Revolutionary Guard navy this week again threatened to strike U.S. military bases<\/a> in the region if the United States keeps helping guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the global energy trade.<\/p>\n \u201cAny further escalation around the Strait of Hormuz or elsewhere in the region will put civilian lives and the well-being of all regional states and the global economy at great risk,\u201d Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in an opinion column in the Financial Times this week. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n