The United States Embassy in Qatar warns Americans to take refuge in place while the country closes the airspace

The United States Embassy in Qatar warned US citizens on Monday to take refuge in place, and a few hours later, the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the country will close its airspace temporarily. News themezone has learned that the closure of airspace is in response to a credible threat.

“Outside a great precaution, we recommend the refuge of US citizens instead until new notice,” said the embassy in an online published warning on Monday.

The State Department had previously warned of US citizens around the world who “exercised greater caution”, after We join Israel’s assault to Iran, bombing Three key Iranian nuclear sites Saturday night. Before American strikes, Iran promised that he would retaliate against the United States if he joined the conflict.

The Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the country was temporarily suspending “air traffic in the country’s airspace, to guarantee the safety of citizens, residents and visitors. This is a temporary measure to guarantee safety during the current situation in the region.”

“Qatar Minister of Foreign Affairs is monitoring the situation closely and is coordinating evaluations with regional and international partners,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The United Kingdom also updated its travel advice on Monday, advising its citizens in Qatar to take refuge in its place.

“After a security alert from the United States for US citizens in Qatar, as a precaution, we recommend that British citizens in the Qatar shelter are instead until an additional warning,” said the United Kingdom Foreign Ministry.

A spokesman from the Qatar Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “the advice of several embassies to its citizens does not reflect the existence of specific threats.”

“The security situation in the country is stable,” said the statement, and “the relevant authorities are closely monitoring the situation and are ready to take all the necessary measures to guarantee the safety of citizens, residents and visitors.”

The statement said that Qatar officials “would keep the public informed of any development that requires alerts or actions.”

The United States has a series of military bases and warships in the Middle East, and around 40,000 military personnel parked in them.

The Al-Useid Air Base in Qatar is the largest American base in the Middle East. It was a great staging field for US military assets during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the president Trump visited troops in the installation last month. There are about 8,000 American troops based in Al-Edeid.

• War
• Qatar
• Iran
• Israel
• Middle East