Over 300 Saudi military aviation students grounded in US after base shooting
09:03, 11/12/2019, WednesdayU: Update: 12:26, 11/12/2019, Wednesday
REUTERS
Saudi Arabia Defense Attache Major General Fawaz Al Fawaz and his Embassy staff and other officials arrive to meet with the Saudi students who remain restricted to the Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola base by their Saudi commanding officer, in Pensacola, Florida, U.S. December 9, 2019. Picture taken December 9, 2019. FBI Jacksonville/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
U.S.-SAUDI RELATIONS
The attack comes as President Donald Trump's administration has maintained warm ties with Riyadh amid high tensions with Middle East rival Iran.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has dismissed suggestions that the shootings might make him more reluctant about new U.S. deployments to Saudi Arabia, which were announced in October and first reported by Reuters.
"Saudi Arabia is a longstanding partner of ours in the region. We share mutual security interests," Esper said over the weekend.
Esper said he had instructed the armed forces to review both security at military bases and screening for foreign soldiers who come to the United States for training after the shooting.
In the wake of the shootings, the U.S. Northern Command immediately ordered all military installations to review force protection measures and to increase "random security measures."
A Northern Command spokesman said local commanders in the United States also had the authority to "add further countermeasures as needed," without elaborating as to which, if any, bases did so.