US says non-emergency staff granted permission to leave Saudi Arabia

The US State Department has given its non-emergency personnel and their families in Saudi Arabia and Oman permission to leave, the US embassies in both Gulf states said Tuesday, as Iran launches retaliatory strikes in response to US-Israeli air raids.

The department "authorized non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members to leave" Saudi Arabia and Oman "due to safety risks," the US embassies in Riyadh and Muscat said in advisories on their websites.

Oman, which played a mediation role in talks between the United States and Iran, has called for a ceasefire in the war, while Riyadh has condemned Iranian salvos, including an attack on the US embassy in Riyadh which forced it to close on Tuesday.