The United States has told some diplomatic staff to leave Saudi Arabia as Iran-aligned Houthi forces intensify missile and drone attacks on the kingdom, officials said Thursday, after strikes on an airport and an oil field killed at least three people and wounded dozens more.
The order marks a significant escalation in Washington's posture toward the conflict, which has steadily widened in recent weeks as the Houthis press a campaign against Saudi Arabia that U.S. officials say is aimed at disrupting the kingdom's oil exports and air travel. The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh had already issued a security alert urging American citizens in the kingdom to exercise heightened vigilance before Thursday's departure order, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the United States condemns the Houthi attacks and that they "must stop now."
A Monthslong Campaign
Houthi forces have repeatedly struck Saudi airports and energy infrastructure since early October, including a series of attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that forced repeated closures and sent plumes of smoke over nearby Aramco fuel storage areas. The group, which controls much of northern Yemen and has fought a grinding war against a Saudi-led coalition for years, has framed the strikes as retaliation for the kingdom's role in the broader regional conflict and has separately warned people to stay away from Saudi oil facilities, which it has described as legitimate targets.
The escalation has already rattled global energy markets, with Brent crude prices climbing in recent sessions as traders weigh the risk of a sustained disruption to Saudi exports. Riyadh has fenced in Aramco fuel storage areas near the capital's airport as a precaution, and the kingdom's air defenses have been tested repeatedly in recent weeks by the stepped-up Houthi campaign.
Washington's Next Move
U.S. officials have not detailed how many diplomats are affected by Thursday's order or whether it extends to family members, as has happened in past ordered-departure episodes at American missions in the region. President Trump has said he is weighing a more direct American role in countering the Houthi campaign, though the administration has not announced any new military deployment to the kingdom as of Thursday. The departure order is likely to intensify pressure on the administration to clarify its strategy toward Yemen, a conflict that has drawn in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and, increasingly, the United States over the past decade.
