The US State Department has ordered some diplomats and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia amid attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen.

Axar.az reports, citing Reuters, that the department has also begun planning to relocate family members from several other US diplomatic missions in the Persian Gulf.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the order applied to “non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only.”

“Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions,” Pigott said in a post on X.

Four US officials told Reuters that American missions in other Gulf states would also order family members to leave. Pigott did not comment on possible changes to missions outside Saudi Arabia.

The US Embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday warning of possible further Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, following recent deadly strikes, including an attack on Riyadh’s airport.

Washington had returned some diplomatic personnel to the region in recent months after withdrawing many of them following Iranian retaliatory attacks on US facilities after the US-Israeli war against Iran began in late February.