Washington orders US embassy staff, families to leave Saudi Arabia
US citizens have also been ordered to leave the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain, all of which have been targeted by Iran during the Middle East war.
Washington has instructed non-essential US embassy staff and their families to evacuate Saudi Arabia following a series of deadly attacks by Iran-backed Houthis, the state department announced on Wednesday. This comes amid sustained attacks on the kingdom from Yemen's Houthis. A diplomatic source confirmed to AFP that all American staff and their families have been ordered to depart from the US embassy in Saudi Arabia, as well as from the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain.
US state department spokesman Tommy Pigott later confirmed the order on X, stating it applied to non-emergency US government employees and their families in Saudi Arabia only. The move was attributed to Houthi attacks, including a strike on Riyadh's international airport and a drone attack on an oil facility that killed two people and injured two others.
The conflict has been ongoing since late February, with the US and Israel launching attacks on Iran, including the assassination of Iran's supreme leader. Iran has retaliated by attempting to blockade the strategic Hormuz Strait, which carries around a fifth of the world's oil supplies.
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