Tensions Escalate as US Orders Diplomats to Depart from Saudi Arabia
The United States State Department officially ordered non-essential diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia on Sunday, 8 March, reflecting heightened security risks for American personnel amid ongoing regional conflict.
The mandatory evacuation decision came after US and Israeli military facilities became targets of retaliatory strikes following military operations against Iran. The military confirmed that one American service member was killed on Sunday from injuries sustained in attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities the previous week.
According to sources speaking to CNN, the US Embassy in Riyadh, including the CIA station, was struck by multiple drones believed to be of Iranian origin. Previously, non-essential staff had been permitted to leave voluntarily, but the situation has now been upgraded to mandatory departure orders.
Saudi Arabia joins a growing list of countries from which the US State Department has ordered non-essential personnel evacuations. Since the conflict with Iran escalated, mandatory departures have been ordered from Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and consulates in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan. Operations at the embassy in Kuwait have been suspended entirely. A State Department spokesman stated the decision was made “in light of security and operational considerations to protect the safety of our personnel.”
Meanwhile, the British government, through the Foreign Office, has established a charter flight booking portal for British nationals in Dubai wishing to leave the Middle East region. Thousands of British citizens were stranded following extensive airspace closures and commercial flight cancellations resulting from the conflict.
More than 160,000 British nationals have registered their presence in the region. The government is prioritising the most vulnerable groups for evacuation through charter flights scheduled to depart from Dubai early the following week.
The United Arab Emirates continues to be affected by military tensions. On Saturday, Dubai Media Office reported one resident killed in the Al Barsha area after being struck by debris from an “air interception” that fell on a vehicle.
Victoria Cameron, a Scottish national who successfully returned to Edinburgh, described the terror of the first missile attack on Dubai on 28 February. “Our phones kept going off, giving ‘emergency, emergency’ warnings. We were crying and shaking,” Victoria told the BBC about her experience whilst queuing at a hotel in Dubai.
Although Emirates airline has reportedly operated dozens of flights to evacuate passengers from Dubai, the airport situation has been described as remaining calm without notable congestion of stranded expatriates.
Crude oil prices have officially breached the psychological level of USD 100 per barrel in Sunday trading, marking the first time since 2022 that prices have reached this level amid the regional instability.