U.S. troops and diplomats evacuating Middle East posts, sources say

NBC News says that the State Department is ordering a further reduction in staff at multiple diplomatic posts in the region, according to two U.S. officials and two people familiar with the matter.[1]According to NBC News' sources, the drawdowns are in response to ongoing threats in the region[1]. NBC adds that they are taking place as President Trump weighs new military action in Iran.[1]NBC News reports that the State Department announced Wednesday that the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia is now under "ordered departure," meaning the post will operate only with emergency staff.[1] According to Ground News' summary of Anadolu Agency coverage, a spokesman said the agency had "issued an ordered departure for non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only"[2]. officials said Washington was preparing ordered departures at American embassies across the Gulf amid growing concerns about a possible resumption of hostilities in the Middle East, particularly involving Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels[3]. Two of those officials pointed to Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia[3], which Ynetnews says have intensified in recent weeks.[3]Ynetnews reports that the move comes just weeks after American diplomats and their families began returning to some Middle Eastern postings[3] following earlier departures tied to the war with Iran.According to investingLive, neither the Pentagon nor the State Department had publicly detailed the wider reductions at the time of the report.[4]