US Mission in Saudi Arabia limits staff travel to Taif and Yanbu
The mission says government employees now need special authorization to travel to either city amid Houthi attacks.
Published
Map: The Middle East, marking Yanbu, Jeddah
The U.S. Mission in Saudi Arabia says government employees must now obtain special authorization before traveling to Taif or Yanbu, whether for official business or personal reasons. The mission cited ongoing Houthi attacks in issuing the restriction.
The Houthis said they struck an Aramco facility in Yanbu and vowed further attacks. The claim came as Saudi Arabia had been pursuing a two-week truce with the group through Omani mediation.
The Yanbu claim follows a separate, earlier incident in which sirens sounded in Jeddah and flights were halted after a projectile was reportedly fired at the city. That episode came days after a Houthi drone attack killed one person in Saudi Arabia, also during the Omani-mediated truce talks.
Saudi oil exports through the Bab el-Mandeb strait have run at under a third of this year's seven-day average since early August, and Saudi Arabia has cancelled all October crude shipments to European refiners. The kingdom has moved to restore about half of its east-west pipeline capacity, with full restoration expected in six weeks. The shift from attacks on energy infrastructure to a travel restriction on U.S. personnel points to a widening threat beyond oil facilities, even as diplomatic efforts and pipeline repairs continue. It points to a persistent risk premium in energy markets and suggests the conflict is entrenching rather than moving toward the truce Saudi Arabia had proposed.