JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL/DUBAI, Oct 21 (Reuters) – The US State Department has ordered some diplomats and family members to depart from its missions in Saudi Arabia and is planning to move out family members from a number of other US missions in the Gulf, US officials told Reuters.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a post on X that the department ordered the departure of “non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only” amid attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen on civilian targets in the country.
Washington had returned some diplomatic personnel to the region in recent months after many were pulled out when Tehran launched retaliatory attacks on US facilities after the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February.
“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 US missions in other Gulf states would also be ordering family members to leave. Pigott did not address changes to other missions outside Saudi Arabia.
The US embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, after recent deadly strikes including on Riyadh’s airport.
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub, Humeyra Pamuk and Timour Azhari; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis)
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