US Orders Diplomats Out of Saudi Arabia as Houthi Strikes Kill Three, Hit Shaybah Oilfield

RIYADH: The United States has ordered some of its diplomats and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia after a fresh wave of Houthi drone and missile attacks struck the Kingdom, killing three people and targeting a Saudi Aramco oilfield, as oil prices surged past $110 a barrel, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Main News Report

The US State Department ordered diplomats and family members to depart from its missions in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, US officials told Reuters, with plans also in place to withdraw family members from a number of other American missions across the region. The US embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday warning of possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia.

The order followed strikes by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on several Saudi targets on Wednesday. At least one person was killed and eight more wounded — their injuries ranging from minor to critical — at the civilian King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, the General Authority of Civil Aviation said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera. The wounded were taken to hospitals for treatment.

Earlier the same day, two people were killed after Saudi air defences intercepted a drone attempting to hit a facility at Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oilfield, the Ministry of Energy said. Separately, Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile, a coalition spokesperson announced, and Britain said it would carry out defensive air missions over Saudi Arabia, with RAF fighter jets to help protect Saudi cities and critical infrastructure from Houthi aerial attacks.

Oil markets reacted sharply. Brent crude futures rose $1.29, or 1.2 per cent, to $110.11 a barrel in early Asian trading, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 97 cents to $98.12, Reuters reported. US crude stocks fell by 3.06 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Information Administration, and the Trump administration said it was offering to loan up to nearly a third of the one-million-barrel US emergency heating oil reserve to contain prices that have surged on diesel shortages caused by the wars in Iran and Ukraine.

• Diplomats out: US State Department orders some diplomats and family members to leave its Saudi missions; wider regional family withdrawals planned, officials tell Reuters.
• Deadly strikes: One killed and eight wounded at Dammam's King Fahd airport; two killed in the Shaybah oilfield drone attack on Wednesday.
• Oil surges: Brent jumps above $110 a barrel; the US offers emergency heating-oil reserves to cap prices.
• Defences up: Saudi Arabia intercepts a Houthi ballistic missile; Britain commits RAF jets to defensive missions over the Kingdom.

Background Context

The attacks are the latest in an escalating campaign against Saudi airports and energy targets. Last week, the Kingdom reported that a projectile strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on October 11 killed one person and injured 11, while a separate attack on the same airport on October 10 claimed the lives of 12 people and injured more than 300, Al Jazeera reported.

At sea, the conflict is widening. Kpler data showed at least 18 attacks on shipping over the past two weeks, while LSEG analysts warned that Iran was targeting tankers well beyond the Strait of Hormuz, reaching into the Gulf of Oman and jeopardising Gulf crude loadings and ship-to-ship transfers. Explosions were also heard in Sirik in southern Iran on Wednesday, Iranian media reported, saying their nature and origin were unknown.

The violence is unfolding against soaring regional tensions between the United States and Iran. On Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Financial Times that Tehran was fully prepared to defend itself, while President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media that the US could not expect dialogue while blockading and threatening Iran.

Reactions and Statements

US officials, speaking to Reuters, confirmed the State Department's departure order and the plan to pull family members from additional missions in the region — a step Washington takes when it judges the security risk to its personnel to be severe.

Saudi authorities condemned the attacks through their civil aviation and energy ministries, with the General Authority of Civil Aviation detailing the casualties at Dammam airport and the Ministry of Energy confirming the Shaybah oilfield interdiction.

Britain's announcement of RAF defensive air missions over Saudi Arabia adds Western military muscle to the Kingdom's air defences, following the Saudi-led coalition's interception of the Houthi ballistic missile earlier in the day.

Iran's leadership struck a defiant tone: Foreign Minister Araghchi told the Financial Times that Iran was fully prepared to defend itself, while President Pezeshkian said the United States could not expect dialogue while it maintained a blockade and threats against Iran.

Why This News Matters

A US order to pull diplomats out of an allied country is a rare and grave signal — it tells the world that Washington believes the Houthi campaign could widen into something far more dangerous. For Pakistan, the stakes are direct: Saudi Arabia is home to one of the largest Pakistani expatriate workforces in the world, and a deeper regional conflict would put millions of Pakistanis in harm's way and threaten remittance flows that Pakistan's economy depends on.

Energy is the other front. Pakistan imports most of its petroleum, and Brent crude above $110 a barrel — combined with shipping attacks in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz — threatens higher fuel prices, costlier electricity and faster inflation at home. The government's daily fuel pricing mechanism, introduced this month, means global price shocks now reach Pakistani motorists even faster.

Future Developments

Watch for whether the Houthis carry out the further attacks the US embassy warned about, and whether Washington extends its departure orders to more regional missions — a sign of how far it expects the conflict to spread. Britain's RAF missions over Saudi cities are expected to begin shortly, and their rules of engagement will indicate how directly Western forces are prepared to confront Houthi launches.

Markets will be watching shipping lanes around the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman for more attacks on tankers, and whether Brent holds above $110. PakInsight Hub will continue tracking this developing story.

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