Saudi Civil Defense issues an early warning and announces that the danger has passed in Mecca, Jeddah, Taif, Tabuk and Yanbu

(CNN) - The Saudi Civil Defense announced, on Thursday, that an alert had been issued from the National Early Warning Platform in emergency situations, in the city of Mecca, the provinces of Jeddah and Taif, and the regions of Tabuk and Yanbu.

Later, the Saudi Civil Defense added in blog posts on its official account on the “X” platform, formerly Twitter, in warnings that “the danger has passed from Taif Governorate, the city of Mecca, Jeddah Governorate, the Tabuk region, and the Yanbu region.”

The Civil Defense confirmed to the Saudis that for their safety, they must “continue to follow the Civil Defense instructions and completely avoid gatherings and photography.”

The Houthi group recently said that it carried out attacks against “sensitive targets” in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in addition to targeting the Aramco company in the coastal city of Yanbu on the Red Sea, west of the Kingdom.

The rapid advance of the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen and their attacks on Saudi Arabia have made the response options available to the Gulf Kingdom few, and all of them involve high costs.

Experts believe that the main message coming from the Kingdom is that Riyadh does not want an all-out war. However, the Houthis’ bold and escalating behavior may nonetheless drag the Gulf state into a broader conflict, after the Houthis announced the imposition of a “ban on Saudi oil ships.”