Is Iran planning attacks on Americans; why is the US on alert?

US intelligence memo warns that Iranian plots against US citizens in the Middle East ‘have reached advanced stages’. United States intelligence agencies have warned that Iran is in “advanced stages” of plans to target US personnel abroad, prompting Washington to place staff on high alert in the Middle East, according to US officials and an official memo cited by Axios and The New York Times (NYT). The alert comes as the US and Israel signal they may be preparing for a new military campaign against Iran, which Tehran has reportedly threatened to retaliate against, in part by targeting communications cables in the Gulf. The heightened threat assessment has prompted Washington, already on guard over escalating attacks by Iran-backed Houthis, to trim Washington’s diplomatic presence in the Middle East, the NYT has reported, citing officials.

Here’s what we know about the latest US warning, and how it fits into the broader US-Iran conflict: A warning about Iranian plans to target US citizens was detailed in a memo sent by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, first reported by US news site Axios. In the memo, Clayton wrote that US agencies had received intelligence indicating that Iran has “substantially increased efforts to target US personnel” overseas, with lethal plots reaching “advanced stages” in the Middle East