US quietly pulls diplomats from several Mideast embassies

The United States is moving diplomats and their families out of several Middle Eastern posts as fears of a wider regional war grow. Many of the families had returned only recently after being evacuated during the Iran war earlier this year, CNN reported on Friday. Foreign service officers call the process chaotic, and their union says some families are being told to leave without knowing what financial support they will get.cnn.com

Saudi order and quieter moves

On Wednesday, October 21, the State Department ordered non-emergency staff at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and its consulates to leave, after a series of deadly attacks inside Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, the Associated Press reported. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the order covered personnel and families "in Saudi Arabia only." He said the Houthis had "increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure," according to The Washington Post. On the same day, a drone was shot down over Aramco's Shaybah oilfield and its falling debris killed two people, The Hill reported.thehill.com+2

Sources told CNN that the department has also been quietly changing staffing at embassies in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. Those moves have not been announced, and the department says the posts remain on "restricted operations" status. Pigott called an earlier Reuters report of departures across the Gulf "inaccurate," The Hill noted. Still, the department told the AP that other Gulf embassies would see temporary staffing changes.apnews.com+2

Families left uncertain

"To say it has been chaotic is an understatement," one U.S. diplomat told CNN. The diplomat said the support offered so far does not cover the cost of moving a whole family. A source in Amman described "a very Groundhog Day vibe," and another source said many staff were "hearing about it through the news instead of their leadership at post."cnn.com

In a statement on Thursday, the American Foreign Service Association said families who had "barely returned to their posts and re-enrolled their children in school" were being told to prepare to leave again. AFSA spokesperson Nikki Gamer said families outside Saudi Arabia had been told to go "without confirmed housing assistance or per diem," because their embassies have not formally changed status, CNN reported.cnn.com

Wider war fears

The drawdowns come as President Donald Trump has suggested he could restart strikes on Iran after the midterm elections, according to CNN. Washington had sent some personnel back to the region in recent months. Many had been withdrawn after Iran attacked U.S. facilities when the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in late February, Reuters reported via the Daily Mirror.dailymirror.lk+1

"Families deserve to know how they will pay for a place to live before they board a plane," Gamer told CNN.cnn.com