The US orders non-essential embassy staff and families to leave Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks intensify, causing deaths and disrupting travel

The United States has ordered non-essential embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as the kingdom faces a growing wave of attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

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The US State Department announced the departure order on Wednesday, citing heightened security concerns linked to attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure.

State Department spokesman, Tommy Pigott, said the Houthis had increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, with the attacks resulting in civilian casualties and significant disruption to travel.

“The safety and security of Department personnel and their families remain our highest priority,” Pigott said in a social media post announcing the measure.

A diplomatic source in the Middle East told AFP that some families of US embassy personnel were also being withdrawn from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain.

However, Pigott clarified that Wednesday’s order applied specifically to non-essential embassy personnel and their families in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has faced near-daily attacks this month as fighting with the Houthis intensifies.

One of the attacks targeted Riyadh’s international airport and was described as the kingdom’s deadliest strike in years.

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said falling debris from a drone intercepted near an oil facility killed two people and injured two others.

The ministry said the victims were a Filipino and a Nepali national, while the injured persons were also affected by the incident.

The drone was reportedly targeting the Shaybah oil field near the UAE border. Saudi authorities did not immediately identify the group responsible for the attack.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it had intercepted six drones.

Separately, an attack on Dammam airport in eastern Saudi Arabia killed one person and left eight others injured, according to aviation officials.

The latest security measures come amid a broader escalation in the Middle East following the collapse in June of a four-year truce in Yemen’s long-running civil war.

The Saudi-led coalition has backed Yemen’s internationally recognised government since 2015 in its conflict with the Houthis, who control large parts of the country.

The United States had previously ordered non-essential personnel to leave the Gulf ahead of its war with Iran in late February and again in July before President Donald Trump called off another planned wave of strikes.

Meanwhile, Iranian state media reported explosions in southern Hormozgan province late Wednesday, raising fresh concerns over regional tensions.

The official IRNA news agency reported that several explosions were heard in the Karpan area of Sirik, although local sources had yet to establish their cause.

The development comes against the backdrop of the continuing confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important waterway through which a significant share of global oil supplies passes.

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Iran has sought to restrict shipping through the strait, while the United States has responded with measures targeting Iranian ports and vessels.