Source : BRICS NEWS
WASHINGTON, October 22, 2026 – The United States has ordered non-emergency government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, but the State Department has rejected reports that the move extends to US embassies across the Gulf, as Iran-backed Houthi attacks on the kingdom escalate and the wider Iran war shows signs of reigniting.
BRICS News reported in a post on X on October 21 that the United States was “to order departure of some personnel and their family members at US embassies in Gulf countries”.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott later described that report as “inaccurate”. In a post on X, he said the department had “issued an ordered departure for non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only”, Anadolu Agency reported.
Pigott said: “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 added: “The safety and security of Department personnel and their families remain our highest priority, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to protect and support them.”
However, four US officials told Reuters that US missions in other Gulf states would also be ordering family members to leave, according to Al Jazeera. CBS News reported that several other embassies had adjusted their staffing under “restricted operations” status, which allows missions to reduce staff and services without fully suspending operations, but had not gone on ordered departure. The State Department introduced that status in August amid flare-ups in the war with Iran.
The drawdown comes as the US military quietly scales back its troop presence at bases across the Middle East, NBC News reported, citing two US officials and two people familiar with the matter. The broadcaster said the reductions were taking place as President Donald Trump weighs new military action against Iran.
The US Embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on October 21 warning that hostilities against the kingdom could escalate “rapidly” beyond the areas immediately affected. It said US government employees now need special authorisation from the Chief of Mission to use any airport in Saudi Arabia, and that operations at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh remained suspended, while airports in Jeddah and Dammam were operating with some delays and cancellations, according to Anadolu Agency.
US embassies in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates had already warned Americans over the weekend to exercise caution and prepare for travel disruption caused by Houthi attacks, CBS News reported.
The Associated Press said the embassy in Riyadh had been badly damaged at the start of the Iran war and had been operating with only a skeleton staff. The embassy and a CIA station hosted there came under drone attack in early March, as Iran began launching strikes across the region after the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February, Al Jazeera reported. Washington had returned some diplomatic staff to the region in recent months.
The escalation in Yemen has opened another front in the regional conflict. CBS News noted that the Houthis’ proximity to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key shipping chokepoint, could cause problems well beyond Saudi Arabia, particularly as disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has made the Red Sea route more important for global oil flows.
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