This was the first comment by Washington since a dispute erupted between Saudi Arabia and Canada over the arrest of rights activists.

“We have asked the Government of Saudi Arabia for additional information on the detention of several activists,” a State Department official said in a statement, calling both Saudi Arabia and Canada “close allies,” Reuters reported.

“We continue to encourage the Government of Saudi Arabia to respect due process and to publicize information on the status of legal cases,” the official added.

The weak US position towards Saudi Arabia comes in as the US support dictatorial regimes in the allied region, which US President Donald Trump has previously said will fall within two weeks if the US protects it.

Saudi Arabia announced Sunday a freeze on its trade relations with Canada, the expulsion of the Canadian ambassador and the recall of the Riyadh ambassador from Ottawa in response to the recent announcement by the latter about the arrests of "Saudi Activists" and calling on Riyadh to immediately release them.

The Saudi foreign ministry considered the Canadian position to be “interference in its internal affairs and contrary to the most basic international norms, a great and unacceptable transgression of the Kingdom's systems and a violation of the principle of sovereignty and an attack on the Kingdom."