U.S. trims staff at embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and UAE as State updates Mideast travel advisories

The State Department is cutting staff at the U.S. embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, The Associated Press reported on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. All four were already on “restricted operations” with fewer personnel, the embassies will stay open and staff there are not being required to leave, according to the AP.¹

In announcing the reductions, the department pointed to rising threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels and did not mention direct Iranian threats to U.S. personnel, the AP reported. Three U.S. officials told the AP that threats from both Iran and the Houthis are tied to the staffing changes, and U.S. officials denied that the drawdowns are linked to possible new U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.¹

What the advisories say

On Oct. 23, the department reissued travel advisories for Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Each new entry says there were no changes to the advisory level or risk indicators and that the summary was updated to reflect “an increase in potential armed attacks by the Iranian-supported Houthis” and Iranian efforts to target U.S. government officials in the region.²³⁴⁵⁶⁷

• Jordan: Level 3, Reconsider travel. U.S. government employees need special authorization to travel there.²
• Lebanon: Level 4, Do not travel. Embassy Beirut personnel need advance permission for personal travel inside Lebanon.³
• Qatar: Level 3, Reconsider travel. U.S. government employees need special authorization to travel there.⁴
• UAE: Level 3, Reconsider travel. U.S. government employees need special authorization to travel to military bases and critical energy infrastructure sites.⁵
• Saudi Arabia: Level 3, Reconsider travel, and Level 4, Do not travel, for the Yemen border region. It records an ordered departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees and family members.⁶
• Bahrain: Level 3, Reconsider travel. U.S. government employees need special authorization to travel there.⁷

Each of the six says more “staffing posture adjustments” may be imposed on U.S. personnel under Chief of Mission security responsibility. The advisories for Kuwait (Level 3, issued Aug. 28) and Iraq (Level 4, issued Aug. 29) had no Oct. 23 entry when SignalData checked them on Saturday.^23456789

Saudi Arabia

The AP reported that nonessential U.S. personnel and their families were ordered out of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Oct. 21.¹ The Saudi advisory, reissued Oct. 23, instead dates the order to Oct. 23.⁶ On Oct. 21, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott called reports of wider evacuations “inaccurate,” saying the ordered departure applied to “Saudi Arabia only” and citing Houthi attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure, Middle East Eye reported.¹⁰

The intelligence memo

Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton sent a memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also national security adviser, on Friday, Oct. 23, warning of Iranian plotting, according to the AP, which obtained the memo; Axios reported it first.¹ Bloomberg News, in a story published by The Spokesman-Review, said the unclassified memo is dated Oct. 23 and was posted on social media by an Axios reporter, and that a U.S. official confirmed it was accurate.¹¹ Both outlets quoted Clayton as writing that “Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel” and that Iranian “lethal plotting efforts” against U.S. citizens “have reached advanced stages” in the Middle East and some other countries.¹¹¹

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a Financial Times column that further escalation around the Strait of Hormuz or elsewhere in the region would put civilian lives at risk, the AP reported.¹

What the records do not show

• The advisories do not say how many U.S. personnel are posted at, or have left, any embassy.
• SignalData could not resolve why the Saudi advisory and the Oct. 21 reports give different dates for the ordered departure.⁶¹¹⁰
• The Jordan, Lebanon and Bahrain advisories record ordered departures earlier in 2026 but do not say whether those orders remain in effect.²³⁷
• SignalData did not see the memo itself, and the advisories do not mention it.