A new U.S. intelligence warning has heightened security concerns in the Middle East as WWE moves ahead with plans to hold Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia next month.
A memo said Iran has stepped up its efforts to target American citizens.
Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, sent the memo to Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, on Friday. In the memo, Clayton said intelligence agencies have identified attack plans in advanced stages in the Middle East and in other countries.
“We have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel,” Clayton said. “The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries.”
A U.S. government official confirmed the memo’s authenticity on Friday night. Clayton also said he plans to share some of the intelligence with more State Department personnel.
The memo doesn’t identify possible targets or specify which countries outside the Middle East could be involved.
Saudi Arabia has been facing attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have hit airports and other facilities in the country in recent weeks. Despite those threats, TKO is continuing preparations for WWE’s next premium live event.
As previously reported, Ari Emanuel had already addressed the situation in an interview with Fox News on Thursday.
“Right now, everything is still set,” Emanuel said. “This weekend coming up in Abu Dhabi, we have a UFC fight. We have in the middle of November a Frieze art show. So far so good. Nothing’s been cancelled.”
Emanuel also said TKO is tracking developments in the region every day.
“We have a whole team kind of working on this, and if that doesn’t happen, where we can move it,” Emanuel said. “It’s a daily monitoring.”
The U.S. government had already ordered non-emergency diplomatic staff and their families out of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
The State Department updated its travel advisory for Saudi Arabia again on Friday. The country remains at Level 3, which advises U.S. citizens to reconsider travel.
WWE still has Crown Jewel officially set for November 7 at Riyadh Season Stadium at KAFD.