CIA Director John Ratcliffe was also copied in on the unclassified memo which was first reported by Axios.The State Department on Wednesday ordered non-emergency government employees and their family members to leave US diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia and planned to withdraw family members from a number of other missions in the region, US officials told Reuters.On Saturday, the US State Department updated travel advisories for more than a dozen countries across the Gulf and Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Israel, citing an increased threat from Iran-aligned Houthis."When it comes to our staffing at embassies, we constantly evaluate new information about the security environment," a US official said."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 official said.The Restricted Operations Status provides the State Department more flexibility in personnel decisions without having to publicly announce a change in the status of a mission.The Iran war is a week away from entering its ninth month and has significantly weighed on the approval ratings of US President Donald Trump ahead of midterm elections on November 3.- Ends