The United States Embassy in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, has been hit by two drones, resulting in what officials described as a “limited fire” in the diplomatic compound.
The strike on the US Embassy early on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, also caused “minor material damage” to the compound, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. Later reports said more drones were targeting the site amid Iran’s retaliation across the Gulf to US-Israeli attacks.
Officials emphasized that the fire was limited, implying that it did not spread extensively or cause catastrophic destruction.
US President Donald Trump told a news outlet that the US response to the embassy attack and the killing of several American service members would soon be made clear. “You’ll find out soon,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the US Embassy issued a “shelter in place” notice to US citizens in the Saudi Arabian cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran amid the attacks.
“We recommend American citizens in the Kingdom shelter in place immediately and avoid the Embassy until further notice due to an attack on the facility. The US Mission to Saudi Arabia continues to monitor the regional situation.”
US Embassy in Riyadh
It later announced the cancellation of all its services across several missions in Saudi Arabia.
“Avoid the Embassy until further notice due to an attack on the facility. We advise all US citizens to maintain a personal safety plan.”
US embassy in Riyadh
The US Department of State has urged all Americans to immediately depart more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, amid escalating US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
The warning came after the State Department, in recent days, updated its travel advisories for several regional countries to recommend against travel.
The latest advisory applies to Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
In a statement posted on X, Mora Namdar, the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for consular affairs, said that US citizens should “DEPART NOW” from the countries listed using available commercial transportation “due to serious safety risks.”
The US embassy in Kuwait stated that it closed indefinitely over “regional tensions.”.
Iran Strikes US Airbase In Bahrain
Separately, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a United States airbase in Bahrain, Iran’s elite force said in a statement carried by the official news agency.
Tehran’s latest claimed attack came after its military launched salvoes across the Gulf region in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks on Iran that began on Saturday.
As such, it increases regional pressure on Gulf Arab states housing US assets in retaliation for the US-Israel attacks.
The news agency posted on Telegram that the IRGC announced “that… its naval forces carried out a large-scale drone and missile attack at dawn on the US air base in the Sheikh Isa area of Bahrain.”
The force said in its statement that 20 drones and three missiles were launched, “destroying the base’s main command headquarters,” without providing evidence.
US Destroys IRGC Command Facilities
Meanwhile, the United States military said that its forces have destroyed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command and control facilities and air defence installations as heavy US-Israel attacks on Iran continued for a fourth day and Tehran retaliated across the region.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for US military operations in the Middle East, said today that it also destroyed air defence installations as well as missile and drone launch sites.
It provided no evidence for its claims. “We will continue to take decisive action against imminent threats posed by the Iranian regime,” it posted on X.
On Monday, CENTCOM claimed US forces had struck more than 1,250 targets in Iran and destroyed 11 Iranian ships.
Also, an Iranian news agency reported that five members of the IRGC’s air force and navy have been killed in US-Israeli attacks on the cities of Jam and Dir in the central province of Bushehr.
The war looks unlikely to end soon as US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Washington has “the capability to go far longer” than its projected four-to-five-week timeframe for its military operations against Iran.
