Americans Detained in Saudi Arabia / What Is the Story?

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh announced the detention of several U.S. citizens for filming missile and drone attacks.

The statement of the American Embassy states: American citizens have been arrested for filming and taking photos of the recent missile and drone attacks in Saudi Arabia.

According to the CBS news channel, the American Embassy in Riyadh warned American citizens that any filming, publication or sharing of information related to the interception of missiles, drones and their impact locations will expose people to legal prosecution.

The statement of the American embassy did not mention the number of people arrested and whether they have been released or not.

The American Embassy also issued strict travel guidelines and announced that US government employees in Saudi Arabia need a special permit to use any of the country's airports, and also asked all American citizens to exercise maximum caution when traveling through Saudi Arabian airports.

Following the increase in tension between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, the diplomatic institutions of South Korea, Australia and New Zealand had previously called for the departure of their nationals from Saudi Arabia in a statement.

In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea called for the immediate departure of the citizens of this East Asian country from Saudi Arabia.

This statement was issued after the attack on Riyadh's "King Khaled" International Airport and Yemen's warning about the use of passengers and planes from the airports and airspace of Saudi Arabia.

In this regard, the foreign ministries of Australia, New Zealand and Japan also issued a statement warning against traveling to Saudi Arabia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia announced in a statement that the citizens of this country should avoid traveling to King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and "reconsider" their travel plans to other airports in Saudi Arabia.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador of Arjaniland took a stricter stance and asked their nationals not to travel to the capital's main airport (King Khalid) and the provinces of Najran, Jazan and Asir in the south of the country under any circumstances.

This institution has demanded that New Zealand citizens refrain from making unnecessary trips to the entire country of Saudi Arabia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan also asked its citizens to strictly observe the safety principles, such as staying away from Saudi military and oil facilities and not filming these areas, by carefully monitoring travel warnings and following up on the status of flights.

This institution added: We ask citizens not to travel to the southern border areas of Saudi Arabia and Yemen.