U.S. Orders Diplomatic Personnel to Evacuate Saudi Arabia, Warns of Houthi Rebel Airstrikes

Financial News — The U.S. government has ordered U.S. government employees stationed in Saudi Arabia (hereafter, Saudi) and their family members to leave the country. The move is believed to be in response to the recent escalation in long-range attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels.
According to CNN and other U.S. media outlets, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott posted a statement on social media platform X on the 21st (local time), saying, "The State Department has ordered the departure of U.S. government employees stationed in Saudi Arabia who are not needed for emergency response, along with their accompanying family members."
Pigott explained, "Iran-backed Houthi rebels are stepping up their hostile actions against Saudi Arabia, including attacks targeting civilian airports and critical infrastructure," adding, "This has resulted in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions."
CNN reported that other U.S. diplomatic missions in the Middle East were also adjusting their staffing in response to threats from the Houthi rebels, citing a source.
On the same day, the U.S. State Department issued a security alert, saying that U.S. citizens should be alert to the possibility of attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia and to widespread travel disruptions. The alert followed recent Houthi rebel attacks targeting King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh, as well as Saudi military facilities, oil facilities and maritime traffic. Along with the security alert, the State Department said, "U.S. government employees working in Saudi Arabia must obtain special permission from the chief of mission to use any airport in the country," and emphasized that Houthi rebels had recently used drones to attack Saudi airports.
After roughly 30 years of dictatorship, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh was ousted in 2011 and a transitional government was established, with President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi elected as its head. However, the Houthis, an armed group affiliated with the Shiite branch of Islam, joined forces with remnants of the Saleh government, launched an uprising and seized the capital in 2014.
Saudi Arabia, the leading power in Sunni Islam, formed a coalition with eight Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, to oust Shiite forces backed by Iran, and began airstrikes targeting the rebels in March 2015. The United States provided Saudi Arabia with military and intelligence support at the time, but announced an end to that support under the Biden administration in 2021. Saudi Arabia also entered a ceasefire through U.N. mediation in April 2022.
The front in Yemen became dangerous again after Houthi rebels resumed missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi cities in July. On the 4th, the Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni government forces announced the launch of Operation "Dawn of Yemen," aimed at reclaiming Yemeni territory held by the Houthis, and set out to recapture key positions around the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The Houthi rebels responded by concentrating their attacks on airports and oil refineries inside Saudi Arabia starting on the 5th. On the 6th and 7th, attacks on Riyadh and Abha airports killed three people and injured 36. On the 8th, two attacks targeting Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed three people, including a captain with a Saudi airline. At King Khalid Airport, a follow-up Houthi rebel attack on the 10th killed 12 people, including one American, and injured 309.
The Houthi rebels continued their attacks on the 21st. That day, a long-range attack at King Fahd International Airport in the Saudi coastal city of Dammam killed one person and injured eight. Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted at least seven drones that day. One of them targeted the Shaybah oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia; the related attack killed two foreign workers and injured two others.



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