Attack by two drones on US Embassy in Saudi capital sparks ‘limited’ fire

This official White House photograph taken yesterday and released today on the White House X account shows US President Donald Trump overseeing attacks on Iran from Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo / Daniel Torok, The White House via AFP

United States President Donald Trump suggested today that the US would retaliate “soon” after its embassy in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh was struck by two suspected Iranian drones.

Speaking to the NewsNation network, Trump said “you’ll find out soon” how the US would respond, without providing further detail, after the US Embassy confirmed a drone attack that caused “a limited fire and minor material damage.”

After the attack, the embassy issued a shelter in place notification for US citizens in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran.

A Saudi Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed a small fire in a statement, as Iran pressed on with retaliatory strikes across the Gulf.

“The US Embassy in Riyadh was attacked by two drones, according to initial assessments. The attack resulted in a limited fire and minor material damage to the building,” the statement said.

Two witnesses told AFP they saw fire engines around the embassy.

Earlier, witnesses said they had seen smoke over the building housing the US mission and heard loud explosions in the diplomatic quarter, home to foreign embassies in the Saudi capital.

A source close to the Saudi Army told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, that Saudi air defence intercepted four drones targeting Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter in the attack.

In the aftermath, the US Embassy issued shelter in place notifications for Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran and limited non-essential travel to any military installations in the region.

The attacks in Saudi coincided with a wave of missiles and drones launched at Gulf states with the UAE Defence Ministry saying it was dealing with a barrage of ballistic missiles coming from Iran.

In Qatar, military intercepted two ballistic missiles the country’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.

New explosions were heard again later in Riyadh, an AFP journalist and residents said.

Tehran began region-wide attacks in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes that have devastated its leadership.

Iran’s salvos have hit ports, airports, residential buildings and hotels along with military sites across the wealthy region of oil giants.

Smoke poured out of Kuwait City’s US Embassy, an AFP correspondent saw.

Later, a Kuwait-based diplomat and a Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP the embassy had been damaged by several drones, while a second Kuwait-based diplomat said the building had been struck directly.

-Agence France-Presse