Planet Labs PBC, a leading provider of high-resolution images taken from space, says it will hold back images of Gulf states for 96 hours, al Jazeera reports.

“All new imagery collected over the Gulf States and adjacent conflict zones [not including Iran] will be subject to a mandatory 96-hour delay before it is made available in our archive”, the company said.

“This measure is intended to prevent adversarial actors [from] endangering the safety of allied and Nato-partner personnel and civilians there,” it added.

The satellite images produced by the California-based company are normally available almost immediately to its clients, including media outlets, companies and researchers.

It did not say if it had acted at the request of US authorities.

“As the conflict evolves, the area impacted may change,” it added.