State Department issues formal withdrawal order

The United States Department of State on Wednesday (10/21/2026) ordered non-essential personnel and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia. Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed the order in a post on X.

According to Pigott, the order applies to 'non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only.' He linked the move to attacks by Iran-backed Houthis against Saudi Arabia, including strikes on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure that caused casualties and severe travel disruptions.

'The safety and security of Department personnel and their families remain our highest priority,' Pigott said, as quoted by AFP.

Houthi attacks intensify, two foreign workers killed

On the same day, Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said debris from the successful interception of a drone targeting an oil facility killed two people — a Filipino and a Nepali — and injured two others. The ministry did not say who launched the drone aimed at the Shaybah oil field near the United Arab Emirates border.

According to AFP, Saudi Arabia has faced near-daily attacks this month from Iran-backed Houthis. Among them was a strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport described as the deadliest attack on the Kingdom in years — the October 13-14 attack that killed 13 people and injured hundreds.

The US Embassy in Riyadh also issued a security alert on Wednesday about possible further Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia. According to CNN, US government employees working in Saudi Arabia now require special authorization from the Chief of Mission to use any airport in the Kingdom following recent missile and drone attacks.

Families of staff in other Gulf states also ordered to leave

A diplomatic source told AFP that 'all American staff and their families have been ordered to depart from the US embassy' in Saudi Arabia, and that families of embassy staff were also ordered to leave the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain — countries the source said were targeted by Iran in the Middle East war.

Four US officials speaking to Reuters said US missions in other Gulf states would also order family members to leave. Pigott himself did not address changes at missions outside Saudi Arabia.

Reuters noted Washington had returned some diplomatic personnel to the region in recent months, after many were pulled out when Iran launched attacks on US facilities following the US-Israeli war on Iran that began in late February. AFP said the US previously ordered non-essential staff to leave the Gulf region ahead of the start of its war against Iran and again in July, before President Donald Trump called off a new wave of strikes.

An escalation Indonesians in the Gulf should watch

The withdrawal order marks a serious escalation signal in a conflict rooted in the collapse of Yemen's four-year truce in June. The war triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran has snarled global energy trade and shaken Gulf economies.

For Indonesia, Saudi Arabia is a top destination for migrant workers and umrah pilgrims — so the escalation of attacks on airports and public facilities in the Kingdom adds to the list of concerns for Indonesians across the Gulf region.