An attack by two drones early Tuesday on the US embassy in Riyadh sparked a small fire, a Saudi defence ministry spokesman said in a statement, while Iran pressed on with retaliatory strikes across the Gulf.The growing war began on Saturday after joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran that Tehran said killed dozens of civilians and the country's supreme leader.
"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.
The embassy later confirmed an attack and urged people to stay away, saying it would be closed on Tuesday.
"Avoid the embassy until further notice due to an attack on the facility," a statement said, urging American citizens to "shelter in place".
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, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, told AFP that Saudi air defences 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.
Later on Tuesday, the Saudi defence ministry said it had intercepted more than half a dozen drones near capital Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj.
"Eight drones were intercepted and destroyed near the cities of Riyadh and Al-Kharj," said defence ministry spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki on X.
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, the military intercepted two ballistic missiles early Tuesday morning, the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
Iran's salvos have hit ports, airports, residential buildings and hotels along with military sites across the wealthy region of oil giants.
On Monday 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.
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