U.S. embassy in Riyadh hit by drones

Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East as much as possible, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

“Putin will certainly make every effort to facilitate at least a minor easing of tensions,” Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said in comments reported by state news agency TASS.

“In this regard, we discussed with virtually all of our interlocutors yesterday that Putin will convey his deep concern regarding the strikes on their infrastructure to our colleagues in Iran, taking advantage of the dialogue we maintain with the Iranian leadership,” Peskov added.

It’s the first public comment the Kremlin has made on the U.S. and Israel’s attacks on Iran, a close economic and military ally of Moscow’s, after four days of relentless strikes on the Islamic Republic’s leadership and military sites.

Analysts told CNBC that Iran’s most powerful allies, Russia and China, were unlikely to come to the regime’s rescue, despite their “strategic partnerships.”

Read more here: Why Iran should not count on allies Russia and China to come to its aid

— Holly Ellyatt

Oil prices rose further on Tuesday, as missile strikes across the Middle East continued and Iran reportedly closed the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping route critical to the global transportation of oil and other goods.

At 5 a.m. ET, global benchmark Brent crude oil futures jumped 5.4% to $81.96, touching a 1-year high after gaining more than 7% on Monday.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate oil futures were 5.8% higher at around $75.55, touching on their highest prices since mid-2025.

— Chloe Taylor

The cost of hauling crude oil from the Middle East to China has soared to record levels as the U.S.-Israel war on Iran dramatically expands across the region.

The benchmark freight rate for the Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) used to ship 2 million barrels of oil from the Middle East to China climbed to $423,736 per day, data from LSEG showed on Monday, reflecting an increase of more than 94% from the previous session.

The dramatic move comes as shipping traffic grinds to an effective halt in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, amid fears of prolonged disruption to global trade.

— Sam Meredith

European stocks traded sharply lower on Tuesday, as the intensifying conflict in the Middle East continued to weigh on global investor sentiment.

By 9:35 a.m. in London (4:35 a.m. ET), the pan-European Stoxx 600 was 2.7% lower, extending Monday’s steep losses that saw the index close down 1.6%.

On Tuesday morning, stocks across sectors were being sold off, with bank shares down 3.8%, insurance stocks, down 4.2%, and mining stocks, down 3.9%, leading losses. Even the Stoxx Aerospace and Defense index, home to the region’s biggest defense primes, shed 2.5% after ending Monday’s session in positive territory.

— Chloe Taylor

Israel’s military said on Tuesday it has deployed additional forces to southern Lebanon to protect Israeli residents near the border.

“The [Israel Defense Force] is working to create an additional layer of security for the residents of the north, through extensive attacks on the infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, in order to thwart threats and prevent attempts to infiltrate the territory of the State of Israel,” a spokesman said in a statement.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had authorized the military to “advance and seize additional controlling areas in Lebanon to prevent firing on Israeli border settlements.”

In a statement on X, Katz said: “The [Israeli Defense Force] continues to operate with force against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.”

South Korean defense stocks pared gains, but still saw massive spikes on Tuesday after the country’s markets returned from a public holiday, as the Iran war fueled interest in defense names globally.

Heavyweight Hanwha Aerospace, which is South Korea’s largest defense manufacturer, saw shares surge nearly 25%, before moderating to about a 20% gain, while Korea Aerospace Industries gained more than 12%, but cut those to 3%.

Shares in air defense systems maker LIG Nex1 soared 30%, while electronic warfare systems manufacturer Victek and anti-aircraft missile components’ maker Firstec saw shares rise about 29.3% and 18%, respectively.

— Lim Hui Jie

The U.S. State Department has issued evacuation orders for non-emergency U.S. government personnel and their family members in Bahrain, Iraq and Jordan.

This was due to “security concerns,” with the State Department travel risk at level 3 for both Bahrain and Jordan, and at level 4 for Iraq, which indicates “do not travel.”

This comes after reported retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases in Bahrain and drone attacks on hotels housing U.S. troops by Iranian-backed militia in Iraq.

— Lim Hui Jie

Iran’s ISNA news agency reported Tuesday that a member of the Assembly of Experts said appointing a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “won’t take long.”

Under Iran’s constitution, the supreme leader is appointed by the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body elected by the public every eight years. Candidates are first vetted by the Guardian Council, which tightly controls who can run.

When the position becomes vacant, the Assembly convenes to deliberate and select a successor. The decision requires a simple majority vote.

In the interim, a provisional three-member leadership council assumes the supreme leader’s duties until a replacement is formally appointed.

— Lee Ying Shan

The Israeli military said it was conducting simultaneous targeted strikes against military targets in Tehran and Beirut, the authorities said in a X post on Tuesday.

The U.S. and Israeli war against Iran widened to Lebanon on Monday after the Lebanese Hezbollah militia fired missiles and drones into Israel.

— Anniek Bao

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran is sending shockwaves across global energy markets, with Asia expected to face the maximum pain.

A prolonged closure of the Strait would likely lead to a further surge in oil prices, with some analysts seeing oil crossing $100 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent was last up 2.6% at around $80 per barrel —almost 10% higher since the conflict broke out.

About 20% of global liquefied natural gas exports that come from the Gulf are also at risk.

“In Asia, Thailand, India, Korea and the Philippines are the most vulnerable to higher oil prices, due to their high import dependence, while Malaysia would be a relative beneficiary since it is an energy exporter,” Nomura wrote in a note on Monday.

Read the full story here.

— Lee Ying Shan

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. has a “virtually unlimited supply” of munitions as the war with Iran escalates.

He added that the stockpiles “at the medium and upper medium grade” have never been higher or better. It was not immediately clear what weapon grades Trump was referring to.

‘Wars can be fought “forever,” and very successfully, using just these supplies (which are better than other countries finest arms!),” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

He added that “Much additional high grade weaponry is stored for us in outlying countries.”

Earlier, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar denied reports that their inventories of Patriot interceptor missiles were running low.

The two countries had requested assistance to counter aerial threats such as missiles and drones, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

“These assertions are unfounded and misrepresent the UAE’s high level of preparedness, technological sophistication, and operational readiness,” the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Qatar’s International Media Office also said it is “well-stocked” with Patriot interceptor missiles.

— Victor Loh

Amazon‘s cloud computing unit confirmed three of its data centers in the Middle East were damaged by drone strikes, taking the facilities offline.

The company posted in an update to its Amazon Web Services health dashboard that two facilities in the United Arab Emirates were “directly struck” by drones on Sunday, causing extensive damage. A site in Bahrain was damaged due to a drone strike that occurred nearby.

“These strikes have caused structural damage, disrupted power delivery to our infrastructure, and in some cases required fire suppression activities that resulted in additional water damage,” the company wrote.

AWS encouraged customers to consider migrating workloads to other regions as the situation in the region remains “unpredictable.” It also said expected a prolonged recovery “given the nature of the physical damage involved.”

— Annie Palmer

U.S. President Donald Trump told NewsNation that details of Washington’s response to the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, and for the deaths of American military personnel in the Iran conflict, would be revealed “soon,” according to a reporter from the outlet who shared excerpts of the interview on X on Monday.

Trump also said that boots on the ground won’t be necessary, according to the reporter’s post.

Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said earlier that the U.S. embassy had been hit by drones, causing a small fire and minor material damage.

— Vinay Dwivedi

The U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh was hit by two drones on Tuesday morning, according to the Middle Eastern country’s defense ministry.

The drone attack resulted in a “limited fire and minor material damage” to the building, according to the defense authority.

The U.S. Embassy to Saudi Arabia has issued a warning for people in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran to hide in the shelter and limited non-essential travel to any military installations in the region.

“We recommend American citizens in the Kingdom to shelter in place immediately,” the embassy said in a post on X.

— Anniek Bao