ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The United States has ordered “non-emergency” US embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia amid escalating Houthi attacks, the State Department confirmed late Wednesday. 

“The US Department of State issued an ordered departure for non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said on X. 

The remarks came amid reports that embassy staff have also been ordered to leave across several Gulf nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain. These countries have been targeted by Iran during the war in the Middle East. 

Pigott said that Washington will take all measures to ensure the safety of its embassy staff amid escalating Houthi attacks. 

“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 stated. 

At least three people were killed in two separate Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday – one on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and two on a Saudi Aramco facility, according to the Saudi civil aviation authority and the energy ministry, respectively. 

The Houthis have also notably targeted Riyadh’s international airport. Earlier in October, a Houthi strike on the airport killed 12 people and injured more than 300, prompting widespread condemnation and expressions of support for Saudi Arabia. 

It was the deadliest strike on the kingdom in years. 

On Sunday, US embassies in the Middle East urged American citizens to exercise increased caution and monitor possible flight cancellations, warning that hostilities between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia could escalate beyond the immediate area.

In June, a two-year truce between Riyadh and the Houthis expired after the Iran-backed group blamed Saudi Arabia for an airstrike on Sanaa airport, setting in motion a chain of events that culminated in a large-scale Houthi offensive that expanded their effective control over war-torn Yemen.