US orders non-emergency personnel and families to leave Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks

Bloomberg Markets, The Hill, the Financial Times and Clarín reported that the State Department’s order covered non-emergency personnel, some personnel, or diplomats and their families. The reports linked the move to the threat posed by continued Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia. The Hill and Clarín characterized the Houthis as backed by Iran, but the supplied evidence does not independently establish an Iranian role in the reported attacks.

The Financial Times reported that the security decision came after a drone attack targeting Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield killed two people. The supplied reporting does not identify those victims, and no other source in the evidence set independently corroborates the casualty report.

The scope of the departure order remains disputed. Multiple reports describe an order affecting non-emergency or some US personnel, while The New Indian Express, citing an unnamed diplomatic source, reported that all US embassy staff and their families were ordered to leave Saudi Arabia.

The supplied reports do not establish a precise departure deadline or say whether the order is temporary. Clarín also reported that King Khalid Airport had reopened with limited flights while international airlines canceled services, but those aviation details were not independently corroborated in the supplied evidence.

The confirmed development is therefore a US decision to reduce some diplomatic and government personnel exposure in Saudi Arabia amid reported Houthi attacks. The available sources establish the departure action and its connection to the attacks, but leave unresolved the order’s full scope, duration and the independently verified details of the reported violence.