Explosions near U.S. embassies in Oslo, Riyadh and Dubai leave no injuries

Norwegian police said an explosion occurred near the U.S. Embassy in Oslo on Sunday and that there were no casualties. The brief statement offered no further details on damage or timing, leaving the incident officially contained but unexplained.

Separately, early on Tuesday a loud blast and visible flames were reported at the U.S. Embassy compound in Riyadh, where Reuters cited three people familiar with the matter. The Saudi defence ministry, in a post on X cited by Reuters, said two drones hit the embassy, resulting in a limited fire and some material damage. Two of the people familiar with the matter told Reuters there were no reported injuries because the building was empty in the early morning hours. Reuters added it was not immediately able to independently confirm the circumstances and that an embassy spokesperson and the Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Witnesses in Riyadh described a sharper scene. AFP, as relayed by Kurdistan24, quoted a resident who said, "We heard two explosions one after the other, then saw a large amount of smoke in the sky above the district." Video and eyewitness accounts showed black smoke rising over the diplomatic quarter, an area described in reporting as one of the most heavily guarded in the capital. Two Saudi military sources told Reuters that air defences had intercepted several drones in the district and that one drone fell near the U.S. embassy compound.

The U.S. embassy issued a "shelter in place" notice early on Tuesday for U.S. citizens in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran, and recommended that they avoid the embassy until further notice. In Dubai, video circulating online showed black smoke near the U.S. consulate area; the Dubai government media office told reporting outlets that "Emergency teams responded immediately," and "No injuries have been reported," and that the fire had been contained.

The incidents come amid a broader regional escalation of missile and drone strikes on Gulf states. Kuwait's Ministry of Defence on March 3, 2026, released updated figures saying 178 ballistic missiles and 384 drones had been directed toward Kuwait since the start of the campaign, injuring 27 personnel, a tally cited in regional reporting. International outlets have linked recent attacks to retaliatory strikes and counterstrikes across the region, though official responsibility for individual incidents remains variably attributed and not always independently verified.

The concentrated pattern of drone and missile activity creates immediate diplomatic and security challenges. For embassies and consulates it raises questions about perimeter defenses, early-warning systems, and the adequacy of hardened facilities for personnel and classified operations. Economically, sustained strikes in Gulf airspace or the diplomatic quarter increase risk premia for regional assets, threaten to raise insurance and security costs for energy and shipping firms, and could push oil and risk-sensitive markets higher if attacks expand to commercial infrastructure.

Policy consequences are likely to follow quickly: Washington will demand clarifications from Gulf partners and assess whether to adjust travel advisories and embassy security postures, and Gulf states will face pressure to demonstrate stronger air-defence intercepts and attribution. For now the immediate human toll is minimal, but the string of strikes marks a new phase in regional pressure on diplomatic facilities and forces a recalibration of defensive and diplomatic priorities.