US citizens warned over traveling to Saudi Arabia

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The US State Department called on American citizens to “exercise increased caution” while traveling to Saudi Arabia, a travel advisory posted on its website said on Wednesday. US Mission personnel and their families are not permitted to use the airport in Abha without Chief of Mission approval, the note added.

Abha airport has been frequently attacked by drones and missiles launched from Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthi group. Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday the 5.7 million barrels per day of output lost would be fully restored by the end of the month. Oil prices fell after the Saudi reassurances, having surged more than 20 percent at one point on Monday — the biggest intra-day jump since the 1990-91 Gulf War. Saudi Arabia’s finance minister told Reuters on Wednesday the attack had no impact on revenues and Aramco was continuing to supply markets without interruption.

US efforts to bring about a UN Security Council response look unlikely to succeed as Russia and China have veto powers and are expected to shield Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has offered to sell Riyadh defence systems, called for a “thorough and impartial” probe during a phone call with Prince Mohammed. The assault exposed serious gaps in Saudi air defences despite billions of dollars spent on Western military hardware and repeated attacks on vital assets during its four-and-a-half year foray into the Yemen war.

“The attack is like Sept. 11th for Saudi Arabia, it is a game changer,” said one Saudi security analyst. Already frayed US-Iran ties deteriorated further when Trump quit the nuclear pact and reimposed sanctions, severely hurting the Iranian economy. Iran has ruled out talks with Washington unless it returns to the pact. Trump said he is not looking to meet Rouhani during a UN event in New York this month.

Rouhani and his foreign minister may not attend the General Assembly at all unless US visas are issued in the coming hours, state media reported Wednesday. Washington and its Gulf allies want Iran to stop supporting regional proxies, including in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.

Despite years of air strikes against them, the Houthi movement boasts drones and missiles able to reach deep into Saudi Arabia, the result of an arms race since the Western-backed coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015. Iran’s clerical rulers support the Houthis, who ousted Yemen’s internationally recognised government from power in the capital Sanaa in late 2014. But Tehran denies it actively supports them with military and financial support.

Iran maintains the largest ballistic and cruise missile capabilities in the Middle East that could overwhelm virtually any Saudi missile defence system, according to think-tank CSIS, given the geographic proximity of Tehran and its proxy forces. But even more limited strikes have proved too much for Saudi Arabia, including recent ones claimed by the Houthis on a civilian airport, oil pumping stations and the Shaybah oilfield.

Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it joined a US-led coalition to secure the Mideast’s waterways amid threats from Iran after an attack targeting its crucial oil industry, while Iran’s president told the Kingdom it should see the attack as a warning to end its years long war in Yemen.

The Kingdom’s decision to enter the International Maritime Security Construct came ahead of a planned visit by Pompeo. Saudi officials separately planned to share information about the weapons used to attack a Saudi oil field and the world’s largest crude oil processing plant Saturday.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency carried a statement Wednesday morning quoting an unnamed official saying the Kingdom had joined the International Maritime Security Construct. Australia, Bahrain and the United Kingdom already have joined the mission.

“The Kingdom’s accession to this international alliance comes in support of regional and international efforts to deter and counter threats to maritime navigation and global trade,” the news agency said. Cmdr Joshua Frey, a spokesman for the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, declined to comment on the Saudi announcement, saying it “would be inappropriate to comment on the status of individual nations and the nature of any potential support.”

The coalition aims to secure the broader Persian Gulf region. It includes surveillance of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s oil travels, and the Bab el-Mandeb, another narrow strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden off Yemen and East Africa.

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