The U.S. has ordered non-emergency government staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as tensions grow in the region due to escalating attacks on the kingdom by the Iranian-backed Houthis.
The announcement prompted speculation over whether Washington was beginning a wider diplomatic drawdown across the Middle East.
Reuters had reported that the order also applied to other missions across the region, although this wider evacuation was denied by the U.S. State Department.
When contacted by Newsweek, the State Department said it had "ordered departure for non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia."
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What Prompted the State Department Announcement?
Many American diplomatic personnel were withdrawn from the Middle East after Tehran started to retaliate following the U.S. attacks on Iran launched in February.
But staff had started to return before tensions started to rise again as Iranian-backed Houthis struck at civilian targets in Saudi Arabia.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on X that non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia must leave.
This includes the embassy in Riyadh and consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, although the missions have not closed and consular services remain available.
"Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure," his post said.
Houthi strikes this month on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed 14 people and wounded more than 300 in the deadliest attack on Saudi soil since the Islamic State bombing of a Shiite mosque in 2015.
The analyst group Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) told Newsweek there has been a sharp acceleration in Houthi attacks across Saudi Arabia.
It comes amid a Saudi-backed counter-offensive that has recaptured territory around Bab al-Mandab and intensified Saudi air campaign on Houthi positions, including in Sanaa.
Airports have been repeatedly targeted, with confirmed strikes affecting airports in Riyadh, Jizan, Najran, Dammam, and Abha.
“By making air travel increasingly unpredictable and raising security concerns around international events, the Houthis are seeking to impose economic costs on Saudi Arabia that extend well beyond the physical damage inflicted," ACLED’s Middle East analyst Ameneh Mehvar said.
Previous Saudi-led and U.S. air campaigns have failed to establish lasting deterrence against the Houthis, who have repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to sustain attacks despite significant military pressure, she said.
The U.S. embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia.
“With Riyadh promising retaliation and Washington weighing direct intervention, further airstrikes risk fueling another cycle of escalation rather than bringing the attacks to an end," Mehvar told Newsweek.
Are Other US Missions in The Gulf Affected?
American officials told Reuters that U.S. missions in other Gulf states would also be telling family members of staff to leave.
The AFP news agency reported that families of embassy staff in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain had also been ordered to leave, according to diplomatic sources.
However, Pigott's statement on Wednesday rejected this, saying such a claim "is inaccurate" and that the order was for Saudi Arabia only.
"The safety and security of Department personnel and their families remain our highest priority."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood and Emma Lee-Sang