The US military is pulling out diplomats and their families from across the Middle East amid concerns Donald Trump could join attacks on the Houthis and launch fresh strikes on Iran next month.
The State Department has ordered some diplomats and family members to depart from its missions in Saudi Arabia and is drawing up plans for further withdrawals from other embassies. Reports also said the Pentagon was pulling American troops from bases in the region.
It comes after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia killed at least two people and injured eight others at a civilian airport in Dammam and two people were killed in a drone attack on an oil field on Wednesday.
Troops stationed in Jordan, Qatar and Kuwait have also been moved, a US official told NBC News. US officials said that Washington is quietly reducing the size of its Middle East forces due to the ongoing threats from the Houthis and Iran.
The military withdrawals also come as Trump weighs options for striking Iran next month. The New York Times reports that the US and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans to resume strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections, in what the outlet says would be a “short but intensive operation”.
Tehran’s energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and missile and drone arsenals would likely be targeted, the outlet reported, with officials saying a final major attack could push Iran into making diplomatic concessions.
Washington had returned some diplomatic personnel to the Middle East in recent months, after many were pulled out when Tehran launched attacks on US facilities after the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February.
“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,” state department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on X.
He added that he had ordered the departure of “non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only" amid attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen on civilian targets in the country.
The US embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, after recent deadly strikes, including one on Riyadh's airport that killed dozens.
The embassy and a CIA station hosted there came under attack by drones in early March, as Iran began launching attacks across the region.
The escalation of the fighting in Yemen has opened yet another front in the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has inflicted heavy damage on the global energy trade.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to resume full-scale strikes against Iran after the November midterm election in Washington, but has previously ruled out attacking the country beforehand.
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