Washington orders US embassy staff, families to leave Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON: The United States has ordered non-essential US embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, the State Department said on Wednesday, as the kingdom comes under sustained deadly attacks by Yemen's Houthis.

"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," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a social media post explaining the measure.

"The safety and security of Department personnel and their families remain our highest priority," he added.

A diplomatic source in the Middle East told AFP that some families of US embassy personnel were also being withdrawn from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain, but Pigott stressed that Wednesday's order applied only to the departure of non-emergency embassy staff and their families in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has come under 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 escalates.

On Wednesday, the Saudi energy ministry said falling debris from the successful interception of a drone targeting an oil facility had killed two people and injured two others.

"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.

One person was killed and eight others wounded in an attack on Dammam airport in eastern Saudi Arabia, aviation officials said.

In June, a four-year truce in Yemen's civil war collapsed, reviving a 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 in late February, and again in July before US President Donald Trump called off a new wave of strikes.

Late on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported the sound of explosions in the southern Hormozgan province overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, breaking a spell 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".

In late February, 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 Strait of Hormuz, demanding that all ships seek its authorisation to cross. In peacetime, the strategic waterway carried around a fifth of the world's oil supplies.

In retaliation, the United States has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports and ships.