US embassy in Saudi capital set ablaze after drone attack: Riyadh

The United States embassy in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, has been set ablaze after at least a pair of drones hit the premises of the American diplomatic mission, the Saudi defense ministry says.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Saudi Ministry of Defense announced the news, claiming that the drones set a “limited fire” to the compound in the early hours of the day, while images and footage of the incident revealed that the premises were burning in raging fire.

In an attempt to further downplay the attack, the ministry added that the strike only caused “minor material damage” to the compound, while there were reports later that more drones were targeting the premises of the American embassy.

According to reports by Reuters, black smoke was seen billowing over Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, which houses foreign missions, after the attack.

Citing three sources, Reuters added that a loud blast was heard and flames were seen at the American diplomatic mission. It further said, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter, that the embassy building was empty at the time of the attack, and there were no reports of casualties.
The AFP news agency, citing an unnamed source close to the Saudi military, claimed that Saudi air defenses had intercepted four incoming drones targeting Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter in the attack.

Earlier on Tuesday, the US embassy issued a “shelter in place” notice to American nationals in Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran amid the attacks.

“We recommend American citizens in the Kingdom to 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,” read the embassy notice.

The strike comes amid retaliatory attacks by the naval and aerospace units of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Islamic Republic’s national military forces against US military assets in regional countries and on targets in the Israeli-occupied territories since the weekend when the US and Israel again started an unprovoked war of aggression against Iran.

Washington confirms drone attack

In a statement in the wake of the strike, the US embassy in the Saudi capital confirmed the attack, urging people to stay away. It also stated that the diplomatic mission would be closed until further notice.

“Avoid the embassy until further notice due to an attack on the facility,” it said, urging American citizens to “shelter in place.”

US orders American nationals to leave Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq

Separately on Tuesday, the US State Department said on X that it had ordered non-emergency personnel and their families to leave Bahrain and Jordan, as well as announcing it had ordered staff in Iraq to leave a day earlier.

The department added that it had updated travel advisories for Bahrain and Jordan “to reflect the ordered departure of non-emergency US government personnel and family members of government personnel.”

It also noted that it had on Monday “ordered non-emergency US government employees to leave Iraq due to security concerns.”