Follow-up: U.S. State Department Updates Travel Advisories for More Than a Dozen Gulf and Middle East Countries, Citing Heightened Houthi Threat
WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department on Saturday, October 24, updated travel advisories for more than a dozen countries across the Gulf and Middle East, citing an increased threat from Iran-aligned Houthi forces. The countries covered include Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Israel.
Reuters reported that the update follows a week of heightened regional security concerns: Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton warned Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an unclassified memo dated October 23 that Iran had "substantially increased efforts to target US personnel" and that lethal plotting against U.S. citizens had reached "advanced stages" in the Middle East and "certain other countries"; earlier in the week the State Department ordered non-emergency government employees and family members to leave U.S. diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia and planned to withdraw family members from a number of other missions in the region. GSM reported the memo and the staffing cuts earlier on Saturday; the travel advisory update is a further step under the same security assessment, aimed at travelers rather than diplomatic staffing.
"When it comes to our staffing at embassies, we constantly evaluate new information about the security environment," a U.S. official told Reuters. "The threat of Houthi attacks and of Iranian terror plots targeting US officials are informing our decisions on staffing adjustments for
embassies on RO Status in the region." The advisory update does not change the operating status of the missions, which remain open. (GSM, from Reuters, October 24)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：沙特阿拉伯利雅得天际线，资料图。 / The Riyadh skyline, Saudi Arabia (file photo).
