The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia has lowered an alert for citizens in the capital of Riyadh after warning of a possible missile or drone attack.
The update came hours after the initial alert on Wednesday and said that the embassy is “no longer tracking reports of missiles or drones headed toward Riyadh. However, the embassy advises American citizens to continue to exercise increased caution in Saudi Arabia due to terrorism and the threat of missile and drone attacks on civilian targets.”
The original alert warned that the United States was “tracking reports of possible missiles or drones that may be headed toward Riyadh.” It advised citizens to seek cover immediately if they hear any explosions or sirens and to go into the lowest level if they are in a building.
According to Bloomberg, the first alert came about an hour after Saudi Arabia announced it destroyed explosive-laden drones that were launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen against targets in the southern part of the kingdom.
A Saudi-led coalition has been engaged in a bloody conflict with the Houthis, who overthrew the Yemeni government and captured the capital city of Sanaa roughly five years ago. The fighting is seen as a proxy war of sorts as the kingdom’s main adversary, Iran, has worked to arm and provide support to the rebels, while the U.S. has supplied arms to the Saudis.
The Houthis have used drones in the past to attack Saudi oil sites. In June, Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council that the missiles fired in the attacks were sourced from Iran. The U.S. has also intercepted vessels bound for Yemen carrying a variety of Iranian munitions.
The State Department condemned Wednesday’s violence by the Houthis and further criticized the rebel group’s ties to Iran.
“These attacks were launched indiscriminately towards Riyadh, and risked the lives of innocent civilians, including Americans. For years, Saudi Arabia has endured these types of reckless attacks and for the past week, these attacks have occurred almost daily,” the department said in a statement.
“The United States calls on Iran to stop smuggling weapons to the Houthis in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and to stop enabling the Houthis’ aggressive acts against Yemen and towards its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia,” the statement read.
