WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (TodayViralUSA) — The State Department on Wednesday ordered nonessential U.S. government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, as a fast-widening conflict between the kingdom and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement brought near-daily missile and drone strikes on Saudi airports and energy sites.
Hours after the order, Saudi authorities reported that one person was killed and eight were injured in an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, on the kingdom’s Gulf coast. Separately, the energy ministry said debris from a drone intercepted near Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field, close to the border with the United Arab Emirates, killed two people and injured two others.
What the State Department said
Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the “ordered departure” covers non-emergency staff and family members in Saudi Arabia, meaning the embassy in Riyadh and its consulates. “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,” he said, adding that the hostilities “have the potential to escalate rapidly.”
The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh also issued a security alert on Wednesday warning of possible further Houthi attacks.
Reuters, citing four U.S. officials, reported that missions in other Gulf states would also order family members to leave, and NBC News and AFP reported similar moves affecting the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain. Pigott called reports of wider withdrawals “inaccurate” and said the order applied to Saudi Arabia only.
A new front in a regional war
An informal truce between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia held for roughly four years before collapsing in July, when the group declared a “maritime embargo” on the kingdom and began targeting Saudi airports, oil facilities and Red Sea tankers. The Houthis say they are retaliating for what they call a Saudi blockade of their territory and an air strike on Sanaa’s airport. A recent strike on Riyadh’s international airport was the deadliest attack inside the kingdom in years.
The fighting has become another front in the wider conflict set off by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which began in late February. With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, Saudi Arabia has leaned on Red Sea routes for its oil exports, and the Houthi campaign around the Bab al-Mandab Strait has added to pressure on global crude prices.
Washington had only recently sent some diplomats back to the region after pulling many out when the Iran war began. The Riyadh embassy, badly damaged early in the conflict, had been running on a skeleton staff for months, according to The Guardian.
What comes next
The drawdown comes as The New York Times reported that U.S. and Israeli military planners have drawn up options for renewed strikes on Iran after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. President Donald Trump has said publicly that he does not intend to restart the war before the vote. Neither of Wednesday’s attacks in Saudi Arabia had been claimed by the Houthis as of early Thursday.
Sources & Credits
- Reuters via Al-Monitor: US orders diplomats to depart Saudi Arabia amid Houthi strikes
- BBC News: US orders some diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks escalate
- The Guardian: Some US diplomats told to leave Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks
- Politico: State Department orders nonessential employees to leave Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks
- Associated Press: US orders some diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia during Houthi fight
Image: U.S. Embassy in Riyadh lit green for Saudi Foundation Day, 2022 (file photo), by the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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