Officials have reportedly confirmed that an Iranian suicide drone hit the CIA station during an attack on the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Monday.
As The Gateway Pundit reported yesterday, at least two drones struck the Embassy. However, officials did not say that the CIA station was hit.
DEVELOPING: At Least Two Iranian Drones Strike US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Fox's Jennifer Griffin reported on Tuesday, "We've confirmed with an official source that, in fact, it was an Iranian drone that struck the station."
"It was part of that US embassy compound, part of that drone strike last night that led to damage at the embassy. This is certainly a symbolic victory for the IRGC. Nobody was injured. Nobody was at the embassy. At the time," Griffin added.
"What this indicates is that drones, the Iranian drones, are going to be a big problem. They can take out the missile launchers and even the missile stockpiles, but they have 1000s, if not tens of thousands, of these drones, and anyone can put them in the back of a truck and fire them. These are really the new suicide bombs of the next phase in the Middle East, and they're going to be a problem for some time."
WATCH:
The Washington Post initially reported on the incident:
An internal State Department alert obtained by The Washington Post said the attack “collapsed” part of the embassy’s roof and “contaminated” the inside with smoke. The notice said the embassy sustained “structural damage” and personnel “continue to shelter in place.”
The extent of the damage was not immediately clear. There was no indication that any CIA personnel were wounded.
While the attack amounts to a minor setback for the spy agency’s presence in Saudi Arabia, it may find significance to an embattled regime that has long viewed the CIA as its ultimate foe, given Washington’s covert support for the 1953 military coup that ousted Iran’s elected prime minister.
Former CIA officers who have worked in the region say that the loss of the station is a disruption but that there are work-arounds.
