US orders diplomatic staff departures from Saudi Arabia as regional attacks intensify
US officials say some diplomats and families must leave Saudi Arabia, with departures of relatives also planned at other Gulf missions following deadly attacks.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The State Department has directed some US diplomats and their relatives to leave Saudi Arabia following deadly attacks, US officials told Reuters. Officials said Washington also planned to withdraw family members from several other missions across the region.
Departure orders and regional plans
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott wrote on X that the Saudi departure order covered US government personnel in non-emergency roles and their families. He said the measure applied only to Saudi Arabia and followed attacks against civilian targets there by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.
Pigott said the Iranian-backed group had stepped up hostilities against Saudi Arabia, striking civilian airports and other vital infrastructure, causing civilian casualties and seriously disrupting travel.
Four US officials told Reuters that American missions elsewhere in the Gulf would also direct family members to depart. Pigott did not discuss any changes affecting missions outside Saudi Arabia.
Deaths at airport and oilfield
After the departure directive, Saudi Arabia’s aviation regulator reported that an attack at Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport had left one person dead and eight injured.
The energy ministry said two people had died earlier that day after Saudi air defences intercepted a drone trying to strike a facility at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield.
On Wednesday, the American embassy in Riyadh published a security warning about the possibility of additional Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia. The alert followed recent fatal strikes, including an attack on Riyadh’s airport.
Withdrawals amid widening conflict
The latest departures come as fighting in Yemen intensifies, creating an additional front in the regional conflict set off by the US-Israeli war against Iran. The broader fighting has disrupted worldwide energy trade and damaged Gulf economies.
Washington had brought some diplomatic staff back to the region in recent months. Many had previously been withdrawn after Tehran attacked American facilities following the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran in late February.
Drones attacked the Riyadh embassy and the CIA station housed within it in early March, when Iran began carrying out strikes throughout the region.
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