Today's headline for close protection teams is the widening regional conflict around Iran. The Foreign Office updated its Jordan advice on 10 September to record Iranian strikes across the region since 8 July, including inside Jordan, and renewed attacks and interceptions in and around the Red Sea port of Aqaba in early September. This follows this week's warnings on Yemen, where the UN envoy described a new and more dangerous phase, and the continuing deadlock on Iran sanctions at the Security Council. Treat any movement through Jordan, the Red Sea approaches or the wider Gulf as taking place inside a live missile-exchange corridor.
In Sudan, the Security Council rolled the sanctions regime forward by one month on 11 September under Resolution 2828, a short technical step that keeps the arms embargo in place while members weigh widening it. FCDO still advises against all travel to Sudan.
The Security Council also marked 25 years since the 11 September attacks with a session urging states to stay ahead of evolving terrorist tactics. The UK national threat level from terrorism remains severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. Northern Ireland related terrorism in Northern Ireland stands at substantial.
Nothing today changes the standing advice: work to the current FCDO position for each country rather than an older brief, and keep a fallback route wherever a port or airport could close at short notice.
