Featured Image Credit: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: Iran, Israel, Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia
Phoebe Tonks
Topics: Iran, Israel, Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia
As the US and Israel's war on Iran extends into it’s fourth day, the US has warned that the ‘hardest hits are yet to come’ just as the American embassy was struck by drones in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi defence ministry confirmed that the US embassy in it’s capital city had been struck by Iranian drones on Monday evening, causing a ‘limited’ but contained fire.
It says the blast - from two drones - resulted in minor material damage, and thankfully no injuries were reported.
However, this attack on a US embassy has further heightened tensions amid the ongoing ‘Operation Epic Fury’, with Donald Trump himself vowing that retaliation wouldn’t be far behind.
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According to NewsNation, Trump said ‘you'll find out soon’ what his retaliation will be following the drone attack, with the president previously having stated that he would put military boots on the ground in the Middle East ‘only if necessary.’
Trump’s latest comment stands in line with earlier remarks made by US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who warned that 'the hardest hits are yet to come’ and that ‘the next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now.’
Since the US and Israel launched the operation on Saturday, an estimated 742 civilians have been killed so far according to the Washington, DC-based group The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). These include 176 children.
Earlier, the Iranian Red Crescent Society put the death toll at 555 people, however UNILAD has been unable to independently verify these figures.
While much of the fighting has been focused on Iran, the rest of the Middle-East hasn’t been without it’s own casualties, with Iranian forces launching retaliatory attacks on US bases in neighbouring countries, sparking widespread outrage and threats of force if they continue.
Yet it isn’t only Iran that has continued to escalate, as Israel too has launched repeated attacks on Lebanon in the past 24 hours, including taking out a TV station in Beirut, while also warning that residents of the al-Ghubeiri and Haret Hreikthe areas in southern Beirut must evacuate ahead of incoming Israeli attacks.
This prompted a severe backlash from Hezbollah, who accused Israel of violating the ceasefire put in place back in 2024 and defended their right to respond with violence.
“All political and diplomatic efforts have failed to curb this aggression or compel Israel to implement the ceasefire agreement and its requirements,” the group said in a message on Telegram, calling retaliatory strikes against Israel a ‘defensive act’ and a ‘legitimate right’.
“We have repeatedly warned that aggression without a response cannot continue, and assassinations and destruction cannot continue,” the group said.
“What is required is to put an end to the aggression by all available means, with fervour and effective action,” it added.
US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday (28 February) that the US and Israel have started 'major combat operations' in Iran after explosions were heard in multiple cities across the country.
Following a significant buildup of US forces in the region in recent weeks, Trump declared in a video posted on Truth Social that 'we are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground'.
Alongside hundreds of civilian casualties - including at least 153 people and children after a reported strike hit a school in Minab - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was confirmed dead following Israeli missile strikes around Tehran.
According to Trump, the aim of this weekend's attacks were to 'ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon'.
Meanwhile, in reference to Israel's retaliation strikes, the country's defence minister stated that the goal was to 'remove threats against the State of Israel'.
This has come after weeks of Trump threatening military action in Iran if the Middle Eastern country did not agree to a new deal over its nuclear programme. However, Iran has insisted repeatedly that its nuclear activities are 'entirely peaceful'.
In retaliation to the US and Israeli strikes, Iran has launched strikes of its own on Israel and Gulf Arab countries, which include Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.
The BBC reports that at least nine people were killed in a strike on the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, while military and civilian targets - including an American naval base in Bahrain and Dubai's international airport in the United Arab Emirates - were also targeted across the weekend.
Several videos have been posted on social media from tourists and civilians that show the damage inflicted across these areas from missile and drone strikes, including many British citizens who are currently stranded in Dubai.
This is a question that has been asked repeatedly since the major combat operation began in Iran, due to the nation being an ally of both the United States and Israel.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed that British planes were 'in the sky' in the Middle East as part of a defensive operation 'to protect our people, our interests and our allies', and condemned Iran's retaliatory attacks on 'partners across the region'.
While the UK did not participate in the strikes, Starmer released a joint statement with the leaders of France and Germany, calling for Iran to 'refrain from indiscriminate military strikes'.
"Iran can end this now," Starmer said. "They should refrain from further strikes, give up their weapons programme and cease the appalling violence and oppression of the Iranian people – who deserve the right to determine their own future."
However, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Yvette Cooper, has said it is 'simply not true' that the UK is being dragged into another Iraq-style conflict in the Middle East.
While addressing a reported Iranian drone strike on a RAF base in Cyprus, she told Sky News on Monday, 2 March: "We took a very specific decision not to provide support for strikes that were taking place over this weekend. We have been clear that we believe there should be a diplomatic process, negotiations process."