US State Department orders non-essential diplomats out of Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Sunday it ordered non-essential U.S. diplomats and U.S. government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks.

The United States began to pull out non-essential staff from Gulf Arab countries last Monday, three days into the war. The U.S. ​embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday approved voluntary departures, four days into the war and on the same day that it was struck by Iranian drones that led to a fire that ​damaged the mission's facilities.