--- description: U.S. citizens in Jeddah are urged to take caution due to threat of an attack title: State Department Issues Travel Warning for Saudi Arabia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb374b4365cbd114e/69889e9ff887dc7f86e96b9b/jeddah-saudi-arabia-travel-warning-state-department.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Saudi Arabia](/tag/saudi-arabia/) ## Saudi Arabia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # State Department Issues Travel Warning for Saudi Arabia  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 21, 2016 5:52 PM CUT  Downtown Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Downtown Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Photo by Mona Zubair—Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 21, 2016 5:52 PM CUT The State Department issued a security warning to U.S. citizens in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Thursday, after having learned that there is a “potential, imminent threat” of attack. The Bureau of Consular Affairs issued warning over Twitter, where it urged citizens in Jeddah to “exercise caution.” “All U.S. citizens are encouraged to be aware of their surroundings, and take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country,” the statement said. Read the rest of the text below. > [](https://twitter.com/TravelGov/status/756172848033566720) Earlier this month, a suicide bomber [carried out an attack](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/04/suicide-bomber-strikes-in-saudi-arabia-close-to-us-consulate-in-jeddah "undefined") near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4417498/jeddah-travel-warning-state-department/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4417498/jeddah-travel-warning-state-department/"},"headline":"State Department Issues Travel Warning for Saudi Arabia","datePublished":"2016-07-21T17:52:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:26:56.677Z","description":"U.S. citizens in Jeddah are urged to take caution due to threat of an attack","url":"https://time.com/4417498/jeddah-travel-warning-state-department/","keywords":["Saudi Arabia","Travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb374b4365cbd114e/69889e9ff887dc7f86e96b9b/jeddah-saudi-arabia-travel-warning-state-department.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb374b4365cbd114e/69889e9ff887dc7f86e96b9b/jeddah-saudi-arabia-travel-warning-state-department.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"jeddah saudi arabia travel warning state department","caption":"jeddah saudi arabia travel warning state department","creditText":"Photo by Mona Zubair—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/saudi-arabia/","name":"Saudi Arabia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4417498/jeddah-travel-warning-state-department/","name":"State Department Issues Travel Warning for Saudi Arabia"}}]}] ```