Reuters, citing officials: The Saudi government has yet to explain why its military attack warning system was inactive and halted before the Ansarallah attack on Riyadh airport. The lack of warnings has raised questions about Riyadh's vulnerability to attacks. Saudi Arabia told officials of a Western allied government that "the alerts cause significant disruption, and many citizens have complained that they wake them from sleep."

Saudi Arabia had halted public warnings about imminent military attacks several days before a series of deadly attacks on Riyadh airport that killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 300.

Reuters wrote: Saudi Arabia had stopped issuing public warnings about imminent military attacks a few days before a series of deadly attacks on Riyadh airport that left at least 18 dead and more than 300 injured.

According to the selection report, this article continues: The Saudi government has not yet explained why no warning was issued to the public before the four attacks that targeted Riyadh last week.

Earlier warnings highlighted violence that undermined the Saudi kingdom's efforts to project an image of peace and stability to the people of this country and the world during the war with Yemen's Houthis.

According to four Western and Arab officials in the region, as well as political analysts who spoke to Reuters, the failure to issue warnings when the airport was attacked has raised questions about Saudi Arabia's vulnerability to attacks and its ability to protect residents and visitors.

According to these people, this issue also reflects efforts to maintain a sense of normalcy in the country.

Sultan Al-Amer, a Saudi researcher based in America and a resident senior researcher at the "Middle East Policy Council" think tank, said: "The Saudi government wants to achieve both goals at the same time; On the one hand, conduct military operations and on the other hand, try to reassure the people and foreign stakeholders.

The Saudi Civil Defense Organization, the national agency for emergency management, relief and firefighting that operates under the Ministry of Interior and issues early warnings, as well as the Saudi government media office, did not respond to Reuters emailed questions about why the warnings were not issued.

According to some regional analysts, Saudi Arabia's approach may backfire, as the lack of warnings has increased the level of uncertainty and concern in the country.

On Monday, the Saudi Civil Defense Organization issued its first warnings since September 29, warning of possible threats in Riyadh and southern cities.

Reuters could not determine whether a decision had been taken to resume issuing warnings in response to the airport attacks. The Saudi government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since the start of the US-Iranian war in February, all the Persian Gulf countries have been targeted by Iranian drone and missile attacks; But the governments of these countries have taken different approaches in how to inform the public about the attacks.

Qatar's interior ministry has issued cellphone alerts before almost every attack, including the most recent one in July. At that time, residents were warned to stay indoors and stay away from windows.

Bahrain and Kuwait have also repeatedly sounded the alarm and asked people to go to shelters.

In May, Saudi Arabia began issuing threat alerts via mobile phones and social media accounts using a national early warning system. However, despite the increase in Houthi attacks in the days leading up to last week, this system fell into silence.

According to the content published on the account of the Saudi Civil Defense Organization on the X social network, the last warning before last week's attacks was issued on September 29 for the Najran region in the south of the country.

However, the Civil Defense Organization continued to issue warnings about safety precautions in adverse weather conditions, including rain and flooding, and issued the latest of these warnings on Monday.

The organization has also warned residents not to publish pictures, rumors or information about the interception of missiles and drones and where they hit. This warning was emphasized once again in the form of an article published on Monday. These restrictions are based on government regulations issued in March.

Reuters could not determine whether anyone has ever been prosecuted for publishing such information. The media office of the Saudi government did not respond to a request for comment.

Two officials with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that before last week's attacks on the airport, officials from a Western-allied government had asked Saudi officials why the warnings had stopped.

According to the two officials, the Saudi response was that the alerts were too disruptive and many citizens complained that the alerts woke them up during the night.

The Saudi government media office and Saudi officials did not respond to requests for comment on the claim.

Michael Ratney, the former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said that Riyadh has been trying to strike a balance between informing the public about the attacks and preventing disruption to the country's normal life; But ultimately, this country's approach has led to increased feelings of insecurity and concern about attacks.

"Their approach to public information seems to be a reflection of the dilemma they are facing," he said. "They have to respond to the Houthis, but they don't want this action to lead to social disruption, and their public messaging reflects this."

He added: "But the lack of warning about the imminent attacks of the Houthis creates the same concern and anxiety that the Saudi authorities are trying to prevent."

Ali Shahabi, a Saudi analyst close to the country's government, said whether Saudi Arabia issues early warnings or not, due to its vast territory, it will be difficult to defend all its infrastructure and assets.

"There are a lot of things in Saudi Arabia that you have to protect," he said. The country is huge and has airports, pipelines and oil facilities. There is insufficient defensive coverage to protect all these targets at once; "Patriot systems, interceptor missiles and rocket launchers are not enough to defend everything."

Shahabi added: "Saudi Arabia needs unlimited air defense systems."

Despite the attacks, Saudi Arabia hosted an international conference on Monday; However, a number of senior managers of major oil companies refused to participate in it.

At the Energy Congress of the World Petroleum Council in Riyadh, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the brother of the Saudi crown prince and the country's energy minister, took a decisive tone and at the same time acknowledged the dangers and determination of Saudi Arabia to continue implementing its economic plans.

He thanked all those who had traveled to Riyadh and said: "You have traveled to this country because you know that this country is safe.

However, he added, "Having our meeting does not mean that the danger has disappeared."

He emphasized: "We will never miss any opportunity to adhere to our commitments and vision."

Embassies issue their own internal warnings

Although no public warning had been issued in October until Monday, Riyadh had been attacked about 12 times during this period; This issue was announced by two Western officials.

Western embassies in Saudi Arabia were issuing internal warnings to their staff about missile and drone attacks during this time, according to three people familiar with the matter and warnings seen by Reuters.

One of these people said that these internal warnings are prepared using a combination of information from the intelligence agencies of the United States and other Western governments and data received from Saudi authorities.

According to informed people, these warnings also included messages that were sent to embassy staff at the same time as the first two attacks on the airport last week.

However, even the embassies had received no internal warning before Saturday's attack on the airport, the people said; The attack that was the deadliest of the attacks last week. They did not provide an explanation as to why the warning was not issued.

Reuters could not determine why no warning had been issued before Saturday's attack.

On Sunday, Saudi state television released images of Saturday's attack.