A US soldier who was critically injured during an Iranian strike on American forces inside Saudi Arabia on March 1 has succumbed to his wounds, US Central Command confirmed Sunday — a development that came just hours before Washington escalated its diplomatic posture in the kingdom by directing non-emergency government employees and their families to leave.
The State Department’s March 8 order upgraded an earlier advisory issued on March 3 that had merely authorized voluntary departure from the country. The revised directive makes the exit mandatory for non-essential personnel, citing persistent security threats from Iranian missile and drone attacks that have repeatedly targeted Saudi territory since the US-Israel military campaign against Tehran began on February 28.
Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry reported intercepting and destroying 15 Iranian drones early Sunday, with seven shot down east of Riyadh and another eight detected entering the kingdom’s airspace. Despite those interceptions, the threat has proven difficult to fully contain. Two Iranian drones struck the US Embassy in Riyadh on March 3, sparking a fire and causing structural damage, though no personnel were injured because the building was largely empty during the overnight hours. The embassy had remained effectively shuttered since.
The ordered departure marks the first such mandatory directive for Saudi Arabia since Operation Epic Fury began nine days ago. Washington had previously issued mandatory evacuations for non-emergency staff in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, but the Saudi mission had operated under a voluntary authorization until now.
Saudi Arabia also confirmed its first civilian deaths over the weekend. The kingdom’s civil defense authority said a military projectile struck a residential area in Al-Kharj governorate, killing two foreign-born residents — one of Indian nationality and one Bangladeshi — and wounding 12 others, all Bangladeshi nationals.
The fallen soldier, whose identity is being withheld pending family notification, became the seventh American service member killed in action during the conflict. Six Army reservists from the 103rd Sustainment Command, based out of Des Moines, Iowa, were previously killed when an Iranian drone struck a makeshift operations center at the civilian port of Shuaiba in Kuwait on March 1. An eighth US service member — a National Guard soldier — separately died in what the military described as a health-related incident in Kuwait on March 6.
The US Embassy in Riyadh urged American citizens still in the country to complete a crisis intake form to request assistance and advised them to shelter in place, keep travel documents accessible, and monitor official channels for security updates.
Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday after attending the dignified transfer of the six soldiers killed in Kuwait, said he was prepared for “several more weeks of war” and that the operation against Iran “had to be done.”
