A suspected Iranian drone attack hit the CIA’s station at the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia on Monday, in what would amount to a symbolic victory for the Islamic republic as it lashes out at U.S. targets and personnel across the Middle East, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The U.S. and Saudi governments confirmed that two drones hit the U.S. Embassy complex in Riyadh but did not disclose that America’s spy hub was hit in the attack.
The CIA declined to comment.
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.
“Drawdowns are a part of the business,” said one former officer who served in the Middle East, and who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the clandestine agency. “The local liaison relationship is so tight I think the Saudis will roll out the red carpet” to accommodate the spy agency personnel. “There’s a lot of redundancy built into these things.”
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