US orders non-emergency staff out of Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks widen

The State Department says Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have increased, and names Jeddah airport as a target this month. Strikes on Riyadh airport and Aramco's Dhahran headquarters have already been confirmed.

The US has ordered non-emergency staff to leave Saudi Arabia. The State Department says Iran-backed Houthi forces have increased attacks on the kingdom, naming civilian airports and critical infrastructure as targets. It made the statement in a post on X.

The State Department also names Jeddah airport as a target this month, alongside King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Aramco's Dhahran headquarters. Flight operations at King Khalid were suspended after Houthi attacks reached the Saudi capital, and separate strikes hit the Dhahran headquarters.

The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia has posted an alert over Houthi attacks against the kingdom, formally flagging risk to American personnel there. The alert follows a month in which the conflict has moved from provincial intercepts to confirmed strikes on infrastructure. A Houthi military source had already warned airlines off Saudi airspace after a month of strikes on Saudi airports and oil infrastructure.

The Houthi movement has said Saudi Arabia is trying to impose its own terms on Yemen and that all mediation has failed. Brent crude climbed to $110 a barrel on Sunday amid continued attacks in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, with Saudi Arabia weighing security contingencies and Egypt discussing defensive support. The UK and France are now flying or deploying military support.

For broader equities, the channel remains energy-cost spillover rather than direct exposure. But a formal US advisory marks a shift: Washington is now treating the threat as warranting precaution rather than routine monitoring, at a point when oil has already reacted to confirmed infrastructure damage rather than to claims alone.