U.S. Closes Saudi, Kuwait Embassies as Iran Expands Retaliatory Strikes Across Middle East

The State Department urged Americans to immediately leave 14 countries, and closed U.S. embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait after they were hit by drones. Israel’s military said it had seized new areas of Lebanon in its conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

1. Embassies Shut After Drone Attacks:
The United States Department of State closed U.S. embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait after drone attacks damaged diplomatic compounds in Riyadh and Kuwait City.

2. Mass Evacuation Advisory Issued:
Americans were urged to leave 14 Middle East locations immediately, including Iran, Israel, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, Yemen, Palestinian territories, along with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Nonessential U.S. personnel were ordered out of six Gulf nations.

3. Trump Signals Prolonged Campaign:
Donald Trump suggested the military assault on Iran could continue for weeks, citing a “virtually unlimited” weapons supply.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that “the hardest hits are yet to come.”

4. Israel Expands Operations:
The Israel Defense Forces reported further strikes inside Iran, seizures in southern Lebanon, and attacks on weapons facilities in Beirut amid escalating clashes with Hezbollah.

5. Iran Widens Military Response:
Iran reportedly deployed drones, missiles, and — for the first time — Su-24 warplanes toward Gulf neighbors. Qatar’s air force shot down two Iranian bombers.

6. Strait of Hormuz Threatened:
A senior official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vowed to block oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route carrying about 20% of global oil supply. Maritime traffic has already slowed significantly.

7. Rising Death Toll:
The United States Department of Defense confirmed six American service members killed in Iranian strikes.
Iran reported over 550 deaths from U.S.-Israeli strikes. Casualties were also reported in Lebanon, Israel, and Gulf countries.

8. Global Market Turmoil:
Asian markets fell sharply amid oil supply fears:

o South Korean stocks dropped 7%

o Tokyo markets fell over 3%

o Taiwan declined 2%

9. Civilian & Business Impact:
Drone attacks targeted Dubai’s airport and infrastructure. Two UAE facilities operated by Amazon’s cloud unit were hit and remain impaired. American universities in the Gulf shifted to online classes.

10. Diplomatic Ripple Effects:
Trump’s scheduled meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Washington is expected to focus heavily on the escalating Iran conflict.

Overall Implication:

The conflict has broadened into a multi-front regional confrontation involving Iran, Israel, Gulf states, and U.S. forces. With embassies closed, evacuation advisories issued, oil routes threatened, and markets reacting sharply, the crisis risks deepening geopolitical instability and global economic disruption.

[ABS News Service/03.03.2026]

The State Department closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on Tuesday after drone attacks and urged Americans to depart immediately from 14 Middle East countries, as Iran expanded its retaliatory strikes on American targets in the widening regional conflict.

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, sustained minor damage after an attack by what appeared to be two drones, the Saudi Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. A day earlier, a drone attack caused a fire at the American Embassy compound in Kuwait, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The sources of the drones in both incidents were not immediately clear.

As the Trump administration signaled that the assault on Iran could go on for weeks, the Israeli military said that it was carrying out additional strikes in Iran. Israeli forces also said they had seized areas of southern Lebanon and targeted weapons storage facilities in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, as part of an escalating conflict with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, which said it had fired “a swarm of attack drones” at Israel.

In another sign of the widening conflict, Qatar’s Defense Ministry said its air force had shot down two Su-24 bombers coming from Iran. It was the first report that, in addition to missiles and drones, Iran has also sent warplanes toward its Gulf neighbors.

A senior Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps official vowed that “not a single drop of oil” would pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway that carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. Traffic has already slowed to a trickle after the Revolutionary Guards warned ships away over the weekend, though Iran had not directly threatened them.

Here’s what we’re covering:

· U.S. advisory: The advisory for Americans to leave the Middle East on Monday cited “serious safety risks” and included Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, along with Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, Yemen and the Palestinian territories. The State Department separately ordered nonessential staff members and their families to evacuate six countries: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

· Trump warning: Mr. Trump on Monday offered an open-ended time frame for the U.S. military campaign. In a social media post, he said the United States had a “virtually unlimited” supply of certain types of weapons. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “the hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military.”

· Market fallout: Markets in Asia took a steep downturn on Tuesday morning as the war threatened oil supplies to some of the continent’s largest economies. South Korea led the slump as stocks in Seoul fell by 7 percent after reopening following a holiday. In Tokyo, stocks dropped by more than 3 percent, while stocks in Taiwan fell by 2 percent.

· Death toll: The Pentagon said the number of American service members killed in Iranian strikes had risen to six. More than 550 people have died in U.S.-Israeli strikes since the beginning of the war, the Iranian Red Crescent emergency service said on Monday. The Lebanese health ministry said that at least 31 people had been killed in fighting. In Israel, at least 10 people have been killed, and in the Gulf, there have been six deaths since Saturday, according to the authorities.

· German leader: Mr. Trump was set to meet with Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany in Washington on Tuesday. The meeting was long planned but is likely to be dominated by discussions of the attack on Iran.

· Businesses affected: There have also been attacks against Dubai’s international airport, hotels and other civilian and economic infrastructure. Amazon’s cloud computing business said two of its facilities in the United Arab Emirates had been hit by drones and remained “significantly impaired” early Tuesday.

· Gulf campuses: American universities with a presence in the Middle East are canceling classes or moving them online.