Saturday 24 October 2026 07:30 UTC

Iran threat warning prompts US embassy staff cuts

US intelligence director Jay Clayton warned Marco Rubio that Iran had substantially increased efforts to target US personnel across West Asia and elsewhere, according to accounts of the briefing. The threat and possible wider Houthi operations contributed to staff reductions at US embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the UAE. Saudi forces later intercepted a ballistic missile heading towards Riyadh. A tanker leaving the Strait of Hormuz was also hit by an unknown projectile near Oman but continued sailing.

Ukraine said military access to Starlink and Starshield remained restricted despite Donald Trump’s claim that service had been restored. Some drone units briefly operated at higher speeds, but most connections again failed above roughly 161 kilometres an hour by late Thursday. Trump then said he had not spoken to Elon Musk, contradicting an earlier account that he asked Musk to remove the limit. Separately, Ukraine said it had agreed with US envoys to pursue team-level talks with Russia in the first half of November.

US military planners have spent months establishing a Technology Support Office intended to covertly disrupt or sabotage foreign technology programmes considered threats, according to current and former security officials. A separate account described plans for US operatives, posing as businesspeople, to conduct economic espionage against China and other competitors. The Pentagon denied both accounts, saying the information was not true.

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