Washington has ordered non-essential staff at the US embassy in Saudi Arabia and their families to withdraw, the State Department said on Wednesday, as the kingdom faces a rising threat from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement.
The announcement followed a diplomatic source who told AFP that “all American staff and their families have been ordered to depart from the US embassy” in the Gulf kingdom.
The source said families of embassy staff had also been ordered to leave the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain, all of which have come under targeting during the Middle East conflict.
US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott later confirmed the order in a post on X, but said it applied only to “non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia.”
He linked the decision to Houthi attacks on the country, including at airports, saying that “the safety and security of Department personnel and their families remain our highest priority.”
Saudi Arabia has faced near-daily attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis this month, including a strike on Riyadh’s international airport that was the kingdom’s deadliest in years, as the war with the group escalated.
On Wednesday, the Saudi energy ministry said that falling debris from the successful interception of a drone targeting an oil facility killed two people and injured a further two.
“The attempted attack resulted in the deaths of two individuals, a Filipino and a Nepali, and injuries to two others,” the ministry said in a statement.
It did not say who launched the drone aimed at the Shaybah oil field near the UAE border. Earlier on Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen reported intercepting six drones.
In June, a four-year truce in Yemen’s civil war collapsed, reviving the conflict that dates back to 2014. The Saudi-led coalition has backed the internationally recognised government since 2015.
Iran Explosions
The US previously ordered non-essential staff to leave the Gulf ahead of the start of its war against Iran and again in July before US President Donald Trump called off a new wave of strikes.
Late on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported explosions in the southern Hormozgan province overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, breaking a period of relative calm.
“A few minutes ago, the sound of several explosions was heard in the Karpan area of Sirik, in Hormozgan Province,” the official IRNA news agency said.
It added that “local sources have not yet disclosed the nature of these explosions”.
The conflict began in late February, when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader and senior military commanders.
Iran has attempted to blockade the strategic waterway, demanding that all ships seek its authorisation to cross. In peacetime, the Strait of Hormuz carried around a fifth of the world’s oil supplies.
In retaliation, the United States has imposed a counterblockade on Iranian ports and ships.
