The US State Department has ordered non-emergency government employees and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia, as Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen intensify missile and drone attacks on the kingdom's airports and energy infrastructure.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed the mandatory departure order on Wednesday, saying it applies "in Saudi Arabia only" and pushing back on reports of a broader Gulf evacuation. "Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions," Pigott said. Four US officials told Reuters that missions in other Gulf states would also be ordering family members to leave.
The Houthi campaign has sharply escalated this month. Strikes and attempted strikes on Saudi Arabia more than doubled in a single week, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, with airports in Riyadh, Jizan, Najran, Dammam and Abha targeted since October 5. The deadliest barrage hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 300.
The attacks have continued this week. One person was killed and eight injured in a strike on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, and debris from an intercepted drone targeting the Shaybah oilfield killed two workers — a Filipino and a Nepali national — and injured two others, according to the Saudi energy ministry. A State Department security alert warned that the hostilities "have the potential to escalate rapidly," and said US government employees now need special authorization from the chief of mission to use any airport in the kingdom.
President Donald Trump is weighing whether to launch direct US military strikes against the Houthis, whose expanding campaign has increasingly threatened Saudi cities, airports and oil facilities. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is scrambling for additional missile defenses, while Saudi-backed forces have expanded operations against Houthi positions and Saudi air power continues to provide military cover.
The drawdown reverses a recent return of American personnel to the region. Washington had pulled many diplomats out when Tehran launched attacks on US facilities after the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February, and had only in recent months begun sending staff back. With airports now a primary target, that return has been abruptly halted.
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