The United States has updated travel advisories for more than a dozen countries across the Gulf and the wider Middle East, citing an increased threat from Iran-aligned Houthi forces, as Washington scales back staffing at diplomatic missions in the region. The updated advisories, reported by Reuters on Saturday, cover Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Israel among others. The move is the latest sign of how far the nearly eight-month-old regional conflict has reshaped everyday decisions for travellers, businesses and diplomats.

Embassy staffing scaled back

The State Department had already ordered non-emergency government employees and their family members to leave US diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia earlier in the week, and planned to withdraw family members from a number of other missions in the region, US officials told Reuters. A US official said staffing is constantly evaluated against new information about the security environment. The drawdown followed intensified attacks by Iran-allied Houthi forces on Saudi territory and a reported rise in attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Intelligence memo warns of lethal plotting

Separately, a memo from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, dated 23 October and seen by Reuters, warned that Iran had substantially increased efforts to target US personnel and that lethal plotting against American citizens had reached advanced stages in the Middle East and certain other countries. The memo was addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and copied to CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Travellers are advised to check the current advisory for their specific destination before travelling, as advisories can change quickly and the underlying threat assessments are not published in full.