US Orders Nonessential Diplomats Out of Saudi Arabia as Iran-Backed Houthi Attacks Escalate

The State Department on Wednesday ordered nonemergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia after a wave of deadly attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The order covers the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and its consulates, the Associated Press reported. The embassy was badly damaged at the start of the Iran war and had operated with a skeleton staff for months.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the departure order applies to “Saudi Arabia only,” Reuters reported. But four U.S. officials told Reuters that missions in other Gulf states would also order family members to leave.

The department said other Gulf embassies, already under “restricted operations,” will see temporary staffing changes, according to the AP.

“Iranian-supported Houthis have engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions,” the department said in a travel alert.

The alert warned that the hostilities “have the potential to escalate rapidly beyond that immediate area.” U.S. personnel need special permission to use any Saudi airport, the AP reported.

The Houthis struck Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Oct. 10, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 300, CNBC reported. The airport had been closed since that attack.

A limited number of Saudi airlines resumed flights there Wednesday. Major carriers including Lufthansa and Air France have canceled Riyadh flights through mid-November, according to the AP.

The Houthis have acknowledged attacking the airport. They claimed, without evidence, that Saudi Arabia used it to supply military equipment to Yemeni government forces.

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said Wednesday that debris from an intercepted drone killed two people and injured two others at an Aramco-operated oil field in the country’s southeast.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said the group fired five drones toward the kingdom early Wednesday. It said all were intercepted over Medina and the Eastern Region.

The violence has already disrupted the kingdom’s economic ambitions. On Monday, Saudi Arabia postponed its flagship Future Investment Initiative conference, set for Oct. 26 to 29 in Riyadh, until 2027, The Washington Post reported.

The event, known as “Davos in the Desert,” had listed speakers including JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon and BlackRock’s Larry Fink, CNBC reported.

The Houthis claimed Monday to have hit the Riyadh airport again, along with Abha International Airport, Aramco facilities in Yanbu, the Shaybah oilfield and Saudi naval forces, according to CNBC.

Washington pulled many diplomats from the region after Iran launched retaliatory attacks on U.S. facilities when the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in late February. Some had returned in recent months, Reuters reported.

Fighting between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia resurged in mid-July, the AP reported. The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh issued a separate security alert Wednesday warning of possible further attacks.

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