President Donald Trump said on Wednesday night that the United States is not negotiating with Iran and that “something” in the conflict would happen “fairly soon,” as the State Department ordered non-emergency United States government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia because of escalating attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement.
US Orders Departure From Saudi Arabia
The departure order was announced on Wednesday as Saudi Arabia faced another wave of missile and drone attacks on civilian airports and energy facilities. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the instruction applied to Saudi Arabia only, pushing back against reports that a wider evacuation was already under way across the Gulf.
Pigott said in a post on X that Iranian-supported Houthis had “increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions.” He added that the safety and security of department personnel and their families remained the highest priority.
The scope of any wider drawdown was less clear. According to Reuters, United States officials said Washington also planned to withdraw family members from several other American missions in the region. A diplomatic source cited by AFP said some families of embassy staff were also being withdrawn from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain. Pigott, however, described a broader evacuation report as inaccurate and stressed that the formal ordered departure issued on Wednesday covered Saudi Arabia.
Reports from the Associated Press said the order affected personnel at the United States Embassy in Riyadh and its consulates. The embassy had been badly damaged at the start of the Iran war earlier this year and had operated for months with a reduced staff, although some diplomats had returned in recent months. A new travel alert warned that the hostilities could escalate rapidly beyond the immediate area.
The decision followed a deadly evening in the kingdom. Saudi authorities said an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam on Wednesday evening initially left one resident dead and eight people injured, according to Reuters, while a separate drone incident at the Shaybah oil field killed two workers. Later updates from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation, reported by Al Jazeera and Arab News on Thursday, said the Dammam death toll had risen to two.
Trump Remarks Raise Questions Over Timing
Trump made his remarks to a reporter at Joint Base Andrews before boarding Air Force One on Wednesday night, according to The Times and the Times of Israel. “We are not negotiating with” Iran, he said. “Something one way or another will happen, fairly soon,” he continued. “Most people seem to think it’s after the election.”
That reference was understood to be to the United States midterm elections on November 3. Trump had said earlier this month that the United States would not attack Iran at any time before the midterms, and he has also said a United States naval blockade of Iran would remain in place.
At the same time, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed United States officials, that the American and Israeli militaries had drawn up specific plans for renewed strikes on Iran after the midterms. CNBC, reporting on the Times account, described the planning as a possible “short but intensive” operation. The reported targets could include Iran’s energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities and its missile and drone arsenal. The Times also said Trump had not approved fresh strikes and had repeatedly vetoed plans for a return to major combat this year, a point that underlines that planning is not the same as a decision to act.
Reports of military preparation added to the uncertainty. United States and Israeli forces were said to have stepped up exercises, including flights over Iraq. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was also reported to have met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an unannounced visit to Israel this week to discuss possible new strikes.
Iran gave a different account of diplomacy. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Iran was prepared to give diplomacy another chance if it saw strong evidence of a sincere desire by the United States to build trust and reach a just solution. In a social media post reported by The Times, he warned that if the United States chose war over diplomacy, it would result in what he called an even greater strategic failure. Other reports said Iranian officials maintained that indirect contacts through mediators, including Pakistan and Qatar, were continuing, even as Trump publicly denied negotiations.
Background: Airports, Oil Sites and a Widening Conflict
The latest escalation comes nearly eight months into a wider regional conflict that began in February, according to multiple reports, and while talks over Iran’s nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz remain unresolved. The waterway is a central route for global oil shipments, and traders have kept crude prices elevated. Reuters reported on Thursday that Gulf stock markets fell in early trade, with Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index down 1.2 percent.
The Houthis have sharply increased attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. The New York Post, citing data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, reported that Houthi strikes and attempted strikes more than doubled in a single week this month, with airports in Riyadh, Jizan, Najran, Dammam and Abha targeted since October 5. Saudi Arabia has responded with strikes on missile launcher sites, according to Reuters.
On October 3, a large fire broke out at a Saudi Aramco oil refinery south of Riyadh after a strike, according to The Times. About a week later, attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh caused mass casualties. Al Jazeera reported that the civil aviation authority recorded 12 deaths and more than 300 injuries in an attack on October 10, and one further death and 11 injuries on October 11. The airport was closed from October 10 and only resumed limited operations on Wednesday, according to Associated Press reporting.
For Washington, the immediate concern is the safety of its personnel in a country where airports, the very routes needed for travel, have themselves become targets. For Saudi Arabia, the attacks have disrupted travel and damaged infrastructure. For Iran, the question is whether Trump’s comments signal a negotiating tactic, a warning ahead of possible action after the elections, or an attempt to keep Tehran uncertain.
What Happens Next
The situation is still developing. No new strike had been announced by Thursday, and Trump has not approved the reported post-election plans, according to The New York Times. The next markers are whether the State Department expands its departure orders beyond Saudi Arabia, whether indirect contacts described by Iran produce any agreement, and whether Houthi attacks continue. The November 3 midterms in the United States and Israel’s election on October 27 add a political timetable to the military one.
