“The U.S. war with Iran has triggered the broadest and fastest wave of attacks against U.S. embassies and consulates in the post-9/11 era, said current and former officials, as the Trump administration grapples with threats to its overseas posts.
The strikes have yielded no injuries to U.S. personnel, and caused limited damage to U.S. compounds, they said.
But the barrage underscores how Iran and its supporters are widening retaliation beyond U.S. military targets or the region. The attacks have disrupted operations, forced drawdowns of staff at several Mideast posts, and threaten to further shrink the U.S. presence as the State Department tries to manage the diplomatic fallout from the war.
On Friday, the U.S. evacuated more staff from its embassy compound in Baghdad, officials said, after it faced rocket and drone attacks. This leaves a skeleton crew at one of the largest and most important U.S. outposts in the Middle East.
"The scale and scope of these attacks are unprecedented," said Jen Gavito, a former senior U.S. career diplomat.
While the Pentagon says the U.S. and Israel have degraded Iran's missile and drone capabilities, officials say the State Department is monitoring the threat posed by more drone attacks, terrorist plots or Iran-inspired "lone wolf" attacks.
The proliferation of cheap "suicide" drones used by Iran and its proxy forces is a particularly thorny problem for security officials, as it poses a low-cost but high-impact way to target from the air embassies otherwise surrounded by reinforced walls, bullet-proof glass and security checkpoints.
The State Department says each embassy is constantly assessing the security situation as new threats arise.
Former senior career State Department officials have criticized the Trump administration for not swiftly drawing down staff at more of its embassies or alerting U.S. citizens to evacuate the Middle East ahead of the war. The department says it has helped more than 50,000 U.S. citizens leave since the war began.
U.S. diplomatic compounds in Riyadh, Baghdad, Dubai, and Kuwait have been hit or targeted since Feb. 28. In Karachi, 11 people were killed and dozens were injured after Marines opened fire when protesters tried to breach the U.S. consulate compound on March 1 amid protests over the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The State Department is also cooperating with authorities in Norway to investigate a bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo on March 8, and shots fired at the U.S. consulate in Toronto on March 10, officials said.
"I unfortunately will not be surprised if their focus on diplomatic facilities extends well beyond the Gulf region, and I anticipate they are going to be looking to conduct attacks against us as they see opportunities," said John Bass, a former senior career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Afghanistan.” [1]
1. World News: War Puts U.S. Diplomatic Missions in the Crosshairs. Gramer, Robbie; Bergengruen, Vera. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 21 Mar 2026: A5.
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