The first drone hit at 1:30 am. The second followed sixty seconds later, flying straight into the hole the first had made, and exploded. By the time it was over, three floors of the US Embassy in Riyadh were heavily damaged, and the CIA station inside had been struck.
On March 3, an Iranian drone evaded Saudi Arabia’s air defences near the Diplomatic Quarter and slammed into the embassy compound in Riyadh. A minute later, a second drone followed the same flight path and exploded inside.
The Saudi Defence Ministry described the damage as limited, with minor fire. But a Wall Street Journal report, citing US officials, tells a different story. As per the US media outlet, the fire burned for half a day, and parts of the embassy were damaged beyond repair.
The attack penetrated a secure section of the building and struck the CIA station. Officials said the situation could have been far worse had it occurred during working hours. Instead, it served as a message that Iran could reach Americans in places they believed were well protected.
The US Embassy in Riyadh, like most American diplomatic posts around the world, does not operate its own air defence systems. It relies on the host country for protection. Former US defence officials told the Wall Street Journal that the Saudi military protects a nearby palace using a Patriot system whose coverage extends to the embassy.
On the same night as the drone strike, Iran also allegedly attempted to target the most senior US diplomat in Saudi Arabia, whose residence is located just a few hundred feet from the embassy.
Iran has since struck other sites in Riyadh that were considered secure. At Prince Sultan Air Base, Iranian strikes hit US aircraft, including an E-3 AWACS radar plane and refuelling tankers. About a dozen troops were wounded in that attack.
Since the war began on 28 February, Iran has carried out its widest strikes on US bases and embassies in the Middle East.
Not just Riyadh, US embassies in Baghdad, Dubai, Kuwait, and Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan have all been targeted by Iranian missiles and drones. While none of those attacks resulted in American casualties, Tehran’s attack on US bases across the region has killed seven US troops and wounded hundreds more, and caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage to aircraft and defence equipment.
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