The United States has ordered non-essential diplomatic staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia due to escalating security risks. The directive follows a deadly Iranian attack on an American soldier and recent drone strikes targeting the US embassy in Riyadh.
The United States has instructed non-essential government personnel to evacuate Saudi Arabia as the regional conflict with Iran intensifies. According to the German state-owned broadcaster DW Persian دویچهوله فارسی, the US embassy in Riyadh ordered all non-essential staff and their families to depart early Monday, March 9, citing "security risks." DW Persian also reported that American citizens have been advised to avoid traveling to Saudi Arabia if possible.
This evacuation order was widely reported across Iranian media, spanning different political alignments. The IRGC-affiliated کانال اخبار سپاه پاسداران 🏴 (Sepah Pasdaran News Channel) briefly noted the State Department's directive for staff to leave due to "risks to their security." The state-aligned aggregator آخرین خبر also echoed this exact framing without providing further context on the underlying conflict.
The evacuation follows direct attacks on US interests in the region. The anti-regime opposition network Iran International ایران اینترنشنال reported, citing the New York Times, that the withdrawal orders came just hours after CENTCOM announced the death of an American soldier. The service member succumbed to injuries sustained during an Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia on March 1.
Additionally, the independent news channel خبری پلاس|خبرفوری reported that the evacuation directive was issued after a drone strike targeted the US embassy compound in Riyadh. According to DW Persian, the embassy suffered damage from this drone attack approximately one week ago.
Foreign-based Persian media heavily emphasized the broader war as the catalyst for these security measures. Iran International stated that the evacuation order comes more than a week after the start of US and Israel attacks on the Iranian government, emphasizing that the Islamic Republic has actively targeted locations across the Persian Gulf throughout this war. Similarly, DW Persian explained that since the beginning of the Israel and US war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, have been targeted by Iranian drone and missile strikes.
There is a notable divergence in the depth of reporting between the channels. Foreign-based and opposition outlets (DW Persian, Iran International) provide extensive background on the ongoing war, Iranian missile strikes across the Persian Gulf, and specific US casualties (the death of the soldier on March 1). In contrast, domestic and IRGC-affiliated channels (Sepah Pasdaran, Akharin Khabar) only post single-sentence updates regarding the US State Department's evacuation orders without mentioning Iranian attacks, embassy damage, or US military casualties.