US Embassy in Saudi Arabia Hit by Iranian Drones as Tehran Threatens Strait of Hormuz and Israel Strikes Beirut
Iran has expanded its retaliation across the Gulf on Tuesday by striking the U.S. Embassy compound in Saudi Arabia’s capital with two drones, triggering a limited fire and minor damage, according to Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry, as Washington and Tel Aviv intensified air operations inside Iran in what U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled could become a prolonged campaign.
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| A photo from the attack on Gandhi Hospital in Tehran; Via: Tasalvi on X |
Security Alert: Consular Appointments Cancelled – U.S. Mission to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Mar. 3, 2026)
— U.S. Embassy Riyadh (@USAinKSA) March 3, 2026
The U.S. Mission to Saudi Arabia is closed on Tuesday, March 3. All routine and emergency American Citizen Services appointments are cancelled. The shelter in place…
The U.S. State Department has ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family members from Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar and Jordan, citing safety risks as hostilities widen across the region.
Explosions echoed overnight across Tehran, with witnesses reporting aircraft overhead and repeated blasts, though it was not immediately clear which sites were struck.
The Israeli military said it was carrying out “simultaneous targeted strikes” against military targets in Tehran and Beirut, while confirming that one of its divisions is operating inside southern Lebanon to bolster forward defenses and strike Hezbollah infrastructure. Israeli officials said there are no immediate plans to deploy ground troops in Iran.
In Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs following missile and drone launches by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. Lebanon’s Health Ministry has reported dozens of deaths from Israeli strikes in recent days.
Hezbollah said it had launched drones targeting an Israeli air base, and the Israeli military said it intercepted two of them.
π¨ Americans in the Middle East who need consular assistance can call the U.S. Department of State 24/7 at +1-202-501-4444. pic.twitter.com/ikpIeH1ss9
— Department of State (@StateDept) March 2, 2026
The conflict’s toll is mounting rapidly. The Iranian Red Crescent Society has officially said at least 555 people have been killed since the U.S.-Israeli campaign began. In Israel, 11 people have been killed by Iranian missile strikes.
Iran on Tuesday held a mass funeral for 165 people it said were killed in what it described as an attack on a girls’ school in the southern city of Minab, with state television showing large crowds gathered in mourning.
Beyond direct military targets, Iran’s retaliatory campaign has increasingly focused on economic and strategic infrastructure. Amazon said two of its data centers in the United Arab Emirates were hit by drones, while a drone strike near a facility in Bahrain caused structural damage affecting power systems.
The company said recovery would likely be prolonged due to the physical damage sustained. Iran has also struck energy facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia and targeted shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage through which roughly one-fifth of globally traded oil flows.
Brig. Gen. Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, declared on state television that the Strait of Hormuz was “closed” and warned that ships attempting to transit would be set ablaze, signaling Tehran’s willingness to use maritime choke points as leverage.
Funeral is being held for more than 150 Iranian school girls who have been killed by an Israeli - American strike in Minab, Iran pic.twitter.com/gtcqZNMjfd
— RagΔ±p Soylu (@ragipsoylu) March 3, 2026
Japan has responded by advising its shipowners to steer clear of the Persian Gulf and urging vessels already in the area to anchor in safe positions. Oman reported that a drone struck a fuel tank at its port in Duqm, though no injuries were reported. The port has served as a key resupply route for U.S. naval forces operating in the Arabian Sea.
In Bahrain, sirens sounded as Iranian state television reported a missile and drone attack targeting an air base. The intensification of strikes across Gulf states, long considered relative safe havens, shows how the war has moved beyond bilateral confrontation into a broader regional confrontation involving diplomatic posts, commercial hubs and strategic energy corridors.
At the political level, rhetoric is hardening. Trump said the United States possesses a “virtually unlimited supply” of munitions and suggested that wars can be fought “forever” using existing stockpiles, adding that additional high-grade weaponry is stored in allied locations abroad.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the operation, arguing that Tehran had stalled negotiations while advancing missile and naval capabilities, and framing the campaign as aimed at dismantling Iran’s ability to project power and pursue nuclear and ballistic ambitions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the war was launched to prevent Iran from making its missile and nuclear programs immune from future action, though he did not provide evidence for claims that Iran was rebuilding protected facilities.
He described the conflict as potentially opening a “gateway for peace,” while acknowledging it would not be endless. However, there has been no visible mass uprising inside Iran despite calls from U.S. leaders encouraging Iranians to challenge their government.
The widening geography of strikes—from embassies in Riyadh and Kuwait to energy sites in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, from Beirut’s suburbs to Tehran’s neighborhoods—shows how quickly the confrontation has evolved into a multi-front conflict. The targeting of data centers, fuel terminals and maritime routes indicates that the war’s economic dimension is now as significant as its military one.
With evacuation orders expanding, embassies closing, commercial air travel disrupted and oil markets reacting sharply to threats against the Strait of Hormuz, the conflict has already transcended its initial objectives. The combination of leadership decapitation strikes, retaliatory drone campaigns and the absence of a clearly articulated diplomatic off-ramp suggests a confrontation that may stretch well beyond initial projections.