The State Department has ordered nonemergency U.S. government employees and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia because of rising security risks in the region.
"On March 8, 2026, the Department of State ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and U.S. government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks," the U.S. embassy in Riyadh said in a Monday advisory.
The department had previously urged citizens in more than a dozen countries across the region to leave immediately due to safety risks amid the conflict in Iran, which started at the end of February.
"Following the onset of hostilities between the United States and Iran on Feb. 28, there has been an ongoing threat of drone and missile attacks from Iran and significant disruptions to commercial flights," the embassy said in a statement.
"The U.S. government has limited ability to offer emergency services to U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia due to the safety risks."
Iran has carried out attacks across the Middle East for over a week in response to U.S. and Israeli military strikes. The attacks have targeted U.S. military bases as well as civilian sites such as airports and residential buildings.
Strikes have been reported in around a dozen Arab countries, with Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar reporting a particularly high number of incidents.
