Iran LIVE: Donald Trump promises retaliation to drone strike on US embassy and declares: 'We're stocked and ready to WIN BIG'

Donald Trump has promised to retaliate to an Iranian drone strike on the US embassy in Saudi Arabia.

The State Department confirmed two drones "hit the roof and the perimeter of the chancery" at the embassy in Riyadh early on Tuesday.

"Post is sheltering in place and reported no injuries," the department said - while the Saudis went on to confirm they shot down eight further drones.

Mr Trump told NewsNation that "you'll find out soon what the response will be" to the attack.

He had earlier teased that American strikes on Iran will only get stronger.

"We haven't even started hitting them hard," he said. "The big wave hasn't even happened. The big one is coming soon."

Then, on Tuesday morning UK time, Mr Trump took to Truth Social to declare America's munitions stockpiles "have, at the medium and upper medium grade, never been higher or better".

"Wars can be fought 'forever', and very successfully, using just these supplies," he said. "The United States is stocked, and ready to WIN, BIG!!!"

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Donald Trump lashes out at 'PT Barnum' Volodymyr Zelensky and warns: 'Wars can be fought forever'

Donald Trump has lashed out at Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in an explosive Truth Social post - which also contained the threat that the US could "fight forever".

The President said America's munitions stockpiles "have, at the medium and upper medium grade, never been higher or better" in the post.

"Wars can be fought 'forever', and very successfully, using just these supplies," he added.

But then, he turned his fire on Joe Biden and Mr Zelensky, whom he compared to PT Barnum, the circus ringleader known as the "Greatest Showman".

"At the highest end, we have a good supply, but are not where we want to be," he said.

"Much additional high grade weaponry is stored for us in outlying countries. Sleepy Joe Biden spent all of his time, and our country’s money, GIVING everything to PT Barnum (Zelensky!) of Ukraine - hundreds of billions of dollars worth.

"And, while he gave so much of the super high end away (FREE!), he didn’t bother to replace it," Mr Trump said.

"Fortunately, I rebuilt the military in my first term, and continue to do so," he continued. "The United States is stocked, and ready to WIN, BIG!!!"

Marco Rubio claims America had to act after Israel struck Iran first

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed his country had to act after knowing that Israel was going to strike Iran.

"We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties," he told reporters last night.

However, in the days before the strikes, it was reported that top US officials preferred Israel strike Iran first as a way to drum up US support for the attack.

Officials, according to Politico, privately argued an Israeli attack would trigger Iran to retaliate - laying the groundwork for the US to get involved.

"The politics are a lot better if the Israelis go first and alone and the Iranians retaliate against us, and give us more reason to take action," one source said.

'Peacemaker' Vladimir Putin now told by Russian hawks to pile in and JOIN Iran against US and Israel

While Vladimir Putin is plotting to make himself seen as a peacemaker in the Middle East, Kremlin hardliners have urged him instead to join Iran in retaliating to the US and Israel.

Russian hawks have urged Mr Putin to form a "military coalition" backing Tehran, warning the US will "pick everyone off one by one" if he stays out of the war.

MP Alexei Zhuravlev, the deputy chairman of Russia's parliamentary defence committee, demanded immediate intervention.

"This is not a situation where we should limit ourselves to protest notes, but rather stand up for Iran before it is too late, by all possible means, including military support," Mr Zhuravlev spat.

"It even makes sense to create a military coalition for this confrontation, otherwise the collective West will pick everyone off one by one."

Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, the head of Russia's defence committee, then warned: "We could be next if we falter, if we cave in... But we have no right to cave in, no right to waver. We must press forward to the end [in Ukraine]."

Vladimir Putin plotting to make himself PEACEMAKER in the Middle East

Vladimir Putin is positioning himself as a peacemaker in the Middle East amid a growing crisis between Iran and the Gulf states.

Mr Putin spoke with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE on March 2 where he pledged his readiness to contribute to stabilising the situation in the region.

He told Arab heads of state how Russia has done much to facilitate a peaceful resolution to situations regarding Iran's nuclear programme and seeking out compromises with Tehran.

The Russian leader, now four years into his invasion of Ukraine which was supposed to last three days, also tried to position himself as a mediator between Iran and the Gulf last summer after the US bombing raids.

Kuwait and Qatar reveal how many Iranian drones and missiles they've shot down 

Kuwait and Qatar have revealed how much of the Iranian missile and drone barrage they have stopped since the initial US-Israeli strikes on Saturday.

Kuwaiti forces have so far intercepted 178 ballistic missiles and 384 drones from the Islamic Republic.

While Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said it had taken out 98 ballistic missiles, 24 drones, three cruise missiles and two Su-24 fighter jets.

​JD Vance: This will NOT be like Iraq and Afghanistan

Vice President JD Vance has vowed the US strikes on Iran would not end up with a years-long war like those in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"There's no way Donald Trump is going to allow this country to get into a multi-year conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear objective," Mr Vance told Fox News.

"He's defined that objective as: 'Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and has to commit long term to never trying to rebuild a nuclear capability.'

"It's pretty clear, it's pretty simple, and I think that means we're not going to get into the problems we had with Iraq and Afghanistan," he added.

RECAP: RAF Akrotiri 'preparing for war' as Donald Trump teases: 'The big one is coming'

RAF Akrotiri is said to be "preparing for war" after being struck by an Iranian drone blitz on Sunday night.

The drone hit a part of the airbase used by US spy planes - after evading British defences in the process.

The Sun reports that as many as four "Shahed-style" drones were fired at the base from Lebanon - home to terrorist group Hezbollah.

A defence source revealed the UAVs may have got around British air defence radars by skimming over the sea, with the one which ended up hitting the base only being picked up around 20 miles away.

RAF Typhoons then scrambled to try and shoot the drones down - with three missing their target and falling into the water.

Defence Secretary John Healey said the damage to the base was "minimal" - but one drone hit the edge of the runway used by American U-2 spy planes.

British planes have since been seen helping out the US over the skies of UK ally Jordan.

Iran-backed terror group 'attacks hotel full of US troops in Iraq'

An Iran-backed terrorist group has claimed it attacked a hotel housing US troops in Iraq.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, one of many Islamist groups backed by Tehran, said it struck the hotel in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish region.

It claimed responsibility for carrying out a drone attack - while a video clip shared by the Iraqi Naya news agency shows a building on fire in Erbil.

The agency claimed that drones were launched by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq towards so-called "occupation bases".

Benjamin Netanyahu mocks Iran as he reveals reason why Israel launched attacks

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has mocked Iran for "not learning a lesson" as he revealed why Israel launched attacks on Iran on Saturday.

"The reason that we had to act now is that after we hit their nuclear sites and their ballistic missiles programme, you’d think they’d learn a lesson, but they didn’t," Mr Netanyahu told Fox News.

"They’re unreformable, they’re totally fanatic about this - about the goal of destroying America," he added.

"So they started building new sites, new places, underground bunkers, that would make their ballistic missiles programme and their atomic bomb programme immune within months.

“If no action was taken now, no action could be taken in the future."

Donald Trump threatens major response to Saudi embassy drone attacks

Donald Trump has threatened a major response to the drone attacks on the US embassy in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Trump told NewsNation on Monday evening, local time, that "you'll find out soon what the response will be" to the blasts.

Israel blitzes Hezbollah terror group command centres and arms depots

The Israeli military has said it is carrying out strikes on Hezbollah command centres and weapons storage facilities in Beirut, Lebanon.

Footage shared with GB News shows huge columns of smoke rising over the Lebanese capital, though it is not clear exactly what was hit in that video.

As many as four drones were fired at RAF Akrotiri from Lebanon on Sunday night.

Saudis intercept four drones heading directly for embassies

Saudi Arabia has intercepted four drones targeting embassies in its capital city Riyadh.

The country's defence ministry said the US embassy was hit by two drones leading to a "limited" fire and minor material damage.

But now, the US has issued a shelter-in-place warning for its diplomatic staff in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran - the latter of which is the home of oil giant Saudi Aramco's headquarters.

Furious Iran issues new warning to ANY ship travelling through Strait of Hormuz

Iran will "set fire to anyone who tries to pass through” the Strait of Hormuz, the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said.

Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to the IRGC's Commander-in-Chief, confirmed the vital waterway had been shut down in a slap-down to Donald Trump's "big one" warning earlier on Monday.

"They should not come to this region. They will certainly face a serious response from us," Mr Jabbari warned ships.

He then claimed the US was "thirsty for the region's oil" and said Iran will "strike their pipelines in the region and will not allow oil to be exported from this area".

UAE 'dealing with BARRAGE of Iranian ballistic missiles'

The UAE is dealing with a "barrage of ballistic missiles coming from Iran", its ministry of defence has said.

The Emirates, home to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and more, said it has confirmed its "full readiness to address all threats to ensure the protection of the state's territories and the safety of citizens and residents".

There are some 300,000 British citizens in the Gulf as it stands, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed on Monday.

Fire breaks out at US embassy in Saudi Arabia after mystery explosion

A fire has broken out at the US embassy in Saudi capital Riyadh after an explosion.

Unconfirmed reports have so far blamed the blast on a drone strike, while footage on social media shows smoke rising into the air.

So far, Saudi Arabia has threatened it would place "all capabilities" at the disposal of the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait after the five were struck by Iranian attacks.

Americans told to immediately leave more than a DOZEN Middle Eastern countries

The US has told Americans to immediately leave more than a dozen countries in the Middle East.

US citizens have been urged to depart using commercial means from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, the State Department has said.

Donald Trump on Monday refused to rule out American boots on the ground in Iran.

"I don't have the yips with respect to boots on the ground - like every President says: 'There will be no boots on the ground.' I don't say it," the President said.

"I say 'probably don't need them'," he added.