Washington orders US embassy staff, families to leave Saudi Arabia

Washington 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.

It came after a diplomatic source told AFP that “all American staff and their families have been ordered to depart from the US embassy” in the Gulf kingdom.

The source added that families of embassy staff had also been ordered to leave the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain, all of which have been targeted by Iran during the Middle East war.

US state department spokesman Tommy Pigott subsequently confirmed the order in a post on X, but said it applied to “non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only”.

He linked the move to Houthi attacks on the country, including airports, saying “the safety and security of department personnel and their families remain our highest priority”.

Saudi Arabia has this month come under near-daily attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis, 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 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 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-old 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 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”.

The conflict began in late February, when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader, along with senior military commanders.

Iran has attempted to blockade the strategic waterway, demanding all ships seek its authorisation to cross. In peacetime, the Hormuz strait carried around a fifth of the world’s oil supplies.

In retaliation, the US has imposed a counterblockade on Iranian ports and ships.

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