Iran targets Gulf energy infrastructure and U.S. missions

US Embassy in Riyadh – (Web Desk) – Drones struck the US embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday, while fresh explosions echoed across several Gulf cities as Iran retaliated against industrial and diplomatic sites in the Middle East. Governments across the region began evacuating their citizens as fears of a wider conflict grew.

The violence erupted four days after US and Israeli strikes reportedly killed Iran’s supreme leader, sparking a regional war marked by missile and drone attacks. Journalists in the Saudi capital observed smoke damage on parts of the American embassy building. Saudi police sealed off the diplomatic quarter, checking identification at entry points and blocking nearby roads. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned the attack as “heinous and unjustified.”

Explosions were also heard in the capitals of Bahrain and Qatar. Iran’s armed forces said they had targeted sites in Israel and the major US air base at Al-Udeid in Qatar, though Qatari officials said attempted strikes on their airport were successfully intercepted. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that attacks against the United States and Israel would intensify.

At the same time, UN human rights chief Volker Turk expressed deep concern over the growing civilian toll. The UN nuclear watchdog reported that satellite images suggested recent damage at Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.

Overnight, powerful blasts shook Tehran as fighter jets flew overhead. US President Donald Trump warned that Washington could further escalate its response. Earlier, the US State Department urged Americans to leave Middle Eastern countries immediately due to serious security risks.

In Lebanon, Israel said it had taken new forward positions in the south after Hezbollah launched missiles in support of Iran. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said troops were authorised to secure additional strategic locations to protect border communities. A Lebanese army source said Israeli forces had advanced near Kfar Kila, appearing to establish a wider security buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

According to a Lebanese military source, following Israel’s “escalation”, the Lebanese army redeployed troops posted near the southern border back to their bases. Hezbollah said it had launched strikes targeting three Israeli bases.

A spokesman for the UN refugee agency said 30,000 Lebanese had been driven from their homes and registered at collective shelters, while “many more slept in their cars on the side of roads”.

In Gulf cities and the Omani port of Duqm, Iranian strikes continued to hit oil and gas infrastructure, sending shares plunging as European markets opened, with oil and gas prices surging for the second day running.

“We will burn any ship that tries to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” Revolutionary Guards General Sardar Jabbari declared.

Trump warned that the strikes could continue for weeks or months.

“From the beginning we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that,” Trump said at the White House.

In an earlier interview with the New York Post, Trump — who campaigned on promises to end US involvement in wars — refused to rule out deploying US ground troops to Iran “if they were necessary”.

Speaking to NewsNation, he warned Iran would “find out soon” how he planned to retaliate for the Riyadh embassy attack.

The US president laid out the operation’s objectives — destroying Iran’s missiles, navy and nuclear programme and stopping its support for armed groups across the region.

Trump’s goals notably did not include toppling the Islamic republic, even though he and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have urged the people of Iran to rise up.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted on Tuesday eight more drones in two cities, including the capital.

Two, however, got through air defences and struck the US embassy, causing a fire.

In Fujairah, one of the United Arab Emirates, debris from downed drones caused a fire at an oil facility, the state’s media office said. The blaze was brought under control and operations resumed.

Qatar has already halted LNG production, sending European energy prices soaring, and on Tuesday giant gas producer QatarEnergy announced a halt in production of related products like urea, polymers, methanol and aluminium.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio presented a strikingly new narrative of how the conflict started.

Washington’s top diplomat said the United States, which had built up its forces in the Gulf to levels not seen since its 2003 Iraq invasion, attacked only after learning that ally Israel was to strike Iran.

Iran had been ready to strike US forces in the region in response to Israel, so Trump decided to intervene “pre-emptively” alongside Israel, Rubio said.

Throughout the region, the death toll has steadily increased, with six US military personnel killed so far in the war, according to US Central Command.

Iran bans food exports as war with Israel, US escalates

Iranian media have reported hundreds of Iranian casualties, including scores at a girl’s school, although AFP reporters have not been able to verify tolls independently.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) on Tuesday said there were 101 casualties inside Iran on the third day of the war, including “85 civilian deaths and 11 military personnel killed”.