'All personnel are accounted for' after drone strike near US Consulate in Dubai: Rubio

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that "all personnel were accounted" for after a drone struck a parking lot adjacent to the US Consulate in Dubai.

"The last update I had with seconds before getting before these cameras was that a drone unfortunately struck a parking lot adjacent to the Chancellery building, and then set off a fire in that place.

"All personnel are accounted for. As you're aware, we began drawing down personnel from our diplomatic facilities in advance of this," Rubio told reporters before briefing congressional leaders at the Capitol.

Tensions have escalated across the region after the US and Israel launched a large-scale attack against Iran on Saturday, killing nearly 800 people, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Tehran responded with drone and missile strikes on targets in Israel and Gulf countries, which are home to US assets.

Rubio said US embassies and their diplomatic facilities were under "direct attack from a terroristic regime."