The US Embassy in Riyadh was struck by two Iranian drones, resulting in a fire and some material damage, the kingdom’s defence ministry said early Tuesday. The attack came as the Middle East remained on the boil for the fourth day triggered by US and Israeli-led strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on US and Israeli bases across the Gulf. The drone strikes prompted US President Donald Trump to warn Iran, saying, “You’ll find out soon what the retaliation will be.”
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said in a post on X that an initial assessment showed the US Embassy compound had been hit by two drones, resulting in a fire on Monday night. There were no injuries reported, given that the building was empty in the early morning hours.
A viral video, which India Today TV couldn’t verify its authenticity, shows a huge blaze and thick plumes of smoke coming out of the drone-hit US Embassy as fire engines reach the spot to douse the flames.
The attack comes amid a wave of Iranian missile and drone strikes targeting Gulf states that host US military bases, following US and Israeli-led strikes on Iran that began on Saturday (February 28). The tit-for-tat attacks marked a sharp escalation in hostilities and have now entered their fourth consecutive day.
Iran’s firing of missiles and drones at Israel and US bases in the Middle East and Arab countries follows the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in coordinated US-Israeli airstrikes.
Without naming Iran, Trump warned that retaliation was imminent. Speaking to NewsNation in an interview cited by a reporter on X, Trump said, “You’ll find out soon what the retaliation will be,” referring both to the Embassy strike and to the deaths of US military personnel in the ongoing confrontation with Iran.
Reuters could not independently confirm the exact circumstances of the US Embassy incident. An Embassy spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Shortly after the attack, the US Embassy issued a “shelter in place” advisory for American citizens in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran. The advisory urged US nationals to avoid visiting the mission until further notice due to the strike on the facility.
Saudi authorities have not detailed whether the drones were intercepted or how they penetrated air defences over the capital. The Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to queries.
RIYADH AIRPORT STILL OPEN, BUT FLIGHT OPS HIT
The drone attack on the US Embassy came even as Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport remains operational and open for flights. However, hundreds of flights are either delayed or cancelled due to airspace closures in neighbouring Gulf countries triggered by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran and ensuing Iranian retaliatory attacks, The Guardian reported.
Airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar was still virtually empty as of Monday, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
Gulf airports and airlines have suspended normal operations until at least 3 pm IST on Tuesday. However, a limited number of special flights are taking off from the UAE since Monday evening.
(with inputs from Reuters)
