U.S. Orders Nonessential Diplomats Out of Saudi Arabia as Houthi Strikes Kill Three

The U.S. State Department has ordered nonessential U.S. government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as attacks on the kingdom by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement escalate, with three people killed in the latest strikes, according to the BBC and CBS News.

"The US Department of State issued an ordered departure for non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia," a department spokesperson said, according to the BBC. "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." The spokesperson warned that "the hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly."

Spokesperson Tommy Pigott wrote on X that the order applied to "Saudi Arabia only," pushing back on a report that it could extend to other Gulf states, CBS News reported. Several other U.S. embassies in the region have adjusted staffing under a "restricted operations" status but have not gone on ordered departure, which involves the mandatory evacuation of designated staff and families, according to CBS News. The department introduced the restricted operations status in August amid flare-ups in the war with Iran.

One person was killed and eight injured in an attack late Wednesday on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, in eastern Saudi Arabia, the country's General Authority of Civil Aviation said, according to Anadolu Agency. Injuries ranged from minor to severe, the authority said, and it did not specify the nature of the attack. Saudi authorities said debris from a drone intercepted during an attempted attack on the Shaybah oil field, near the border with the United Arab Emirates, killed two people, the BBC reported. Saudi Arabia's energy ministry did not say who launched that drone.

The attacks follow a strike earlier this month on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport that killed 12 people and injured more than 300, CBS News reported. One American was among those killed. The BBC described it as the deadliest attack in the kingdom in years.

CBS News also reported that the U.S. military has been quietly reducing its footprint at posts in the Middle East because of threats from the Houthis and direct threats from Iran, citing a U.S. official and a senior U.S. military official. Before the departure order, U.S. embassies in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other countries urged Americans in the region to exercise caution and prepare for travel disruptions.

The conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia has been rising for about a month, according to the BBC. An informal ceasefire had held for four years but unraveled in July after the Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea. The Houthis say they are retaliating for what they call a Saudi blockade of their territory and an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on the kingdom.

The fighting has global economic stakes. The Houthis' embargo in the Bab al-Mandab Strait has contributed to a surge in oil prices, the BBC reported, because Saudi Arabia had been relying on the Red Sea for oil exports since the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.

Some Saudi officials have blamed Iran for the Houthis' conduct; Iran has denied any role, CBS News reported. Marwan Ali Noman, a political adviser to Yemen's foreign minister, told CBS News that the Houthis could continue their attacks unless confronted. "We are fighting on behalf of everyone, because the threat and risk of the Houthis will expand," he said.

The United Kingdom has offered support to Saudi Arabia, including defensive air operations, CBS News reported, and the UK said it would deploy Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets to the kingdom, according to the World Watch news digest. It is not clear whether the Trump administration plans to help. Asked after the Oct. 10 Riyadh airport attack whether the U.S. might strike the Houthis, President Donald Trump said, "We may," according to CBS News. He said earlier this month, "We have communication with the Houthis, and we'll see what happens. But what they did was very bad."

Separately, Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. is not negotiating with Iran and that "something one way or the other" will happen "fairly soon," Anadolu reported.