Reuters quoted US officials as saying that their country's authorities temporarily stopped flying in American airspace about three hundred Saudi students studying military aviation.
A US Navy spokeswoman said the decision to suspend Saudi aviation students had entered into force and was "a preventive measure." She added that the moratorium included three different military installations, which are the Pensacola, Whiting Field and Mayport Air Force stations in Florida.
She added that it is not yet clear when Saudi students will be allowed to fly again, as they are expected to resume their theoretical training soon. She emphasized that aviation training resumed for students from other countries.
The decision came about a week after three Americans were killed at a US naval base by a Saudi lieutenant in the rank of second lieutenant, Muhammad Saeed al-Shamrani, who was 21 years old.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that American investigators believe that al-Shamrani acted alone when he carried out his attack at a US Navy base in Pensacola, Florida, last Friday, before a deputy police chief killed him.
In turn, another US official confirmed that stopping the flight came to help Saudi students prepare for the eventual resumption of their training, and said that similar measures would have been taken had a similar incident occurred in an American military squadron.
For its part, the Associated Press reported that the decision to suspend includes 140 Saudi students at the Pensacola Air Force Base, in which the shooting occurred, and 35 at the neighboring Whiting Field, as well as 128 others at the Mayport base, all of which are affiliated with the US Navy.
There are currently about 850 Saudi students receiving military training in the United States.