The Saudi Defense Ministry says a fire broke out at the embassy, but the diplomatic compound suffered only “minor” damage.
Published March 3, 2026
The US embassy in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, was hit by two drones and “limited fire” occurred at the diplomatic complex, the Saudi Defense Ministry said.
The attack on the US embassy early on Tuesday also caused “minor material damage” to the complex, the Defense Ministry said in a statement, while there were later reports that more drones were targeting the site amid Iran’s retaliation across the Gulf over US and Israeli attacks.
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US President Donald Trump told news outlet NewsNation that the US response to the attack on the embassy and the killing of four US service members would soon be clarified. “You’ll find out soon,” he said.
After the attack, black smoke was seen rising over Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter, where foreign missions are located, Reuters news agency reports.
Three people told Reuters that a loud explosion was heard and flames were seen at the embassy, although the Saudi Defense Ministry and one of the sources told the news agency that the fire that followed the drone attack was small-scale.
The embassy building was empty at the time of the attack, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, and there were no reports of casualties.
A source close to the Saudi military, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the AFP news agency that air defenses had intercepted four drones targeting Riyadh’s diplomatic headquarters in the attack.
Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the US president’s behavior – providing only fragments of comments to individual news organizations, as in the case of the embassy attack – was unprecedented at a time when the country was embroiled in a major conflict.
“Since this conflict began, he has been calling individual journalists, dropping little pieces of information,” Hanna said, adding that the American public has received very little information from the president about the conflict.
“This is unprecedented in terms of how a president behaves in times of conflict, and that is a question that the American public – a large part of the American public – is going to be reflecting on in the days, weeks and, indeed, months to come,” 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 advise U.S. citizens in the Kingdom to shelter in place immediately and avoid the embassy until further notice due to an attack on the facility. The U.S. mission in Saudi Arabia continues to monitor the regional situation,” the embassy said.
