IRAN expanded its targets today in retaliation for continuing US and Israeli air strikes, hitting the US embassy in Saudi Arabia.

US President Donald Trump suggested that the illegal attacks carried out so far were just the start of a war that has already severely disrupted the world’s supply of oil and gas, international shipping and air travel.

The conflict escalated further on its fourth day, with Israel sending new ground troops into Lebanon and explosions ringing out in the Iranian capital Tehran. 

The US-Israeli strikes have now killed at least 787 people, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. 

In Israel, where Iranian missiles struck several locations, 11 lives have reportedly been lost. 

The US military has confirmed the deaths of six service members. Three people were killed in the United Arab Emirates and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.

But days into the conflict, the US objectives are no clearer, despite Mr Trump raising the possibility of more extensive US involvement.

He told the New York Post on Monday that he was not ruling out the possibility of boots on the ground.

The initial US-Israeli strikes on Saturday killed Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Mr Trump urged Iranians to overthrow their government.

Since then, however, senior administration officials have claimed that regime change was not the goal. 

The president’s initial announcement of the strikes listed several grievances, from concerns about Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes to its leadership.

Since then, Iranian forces have continued to fight back against the unprovoked US-Israeli attack.

There was a “limited fire” at the US embassy in Riyadh after it was hit by two drones on the US embassy, according to Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry, and the embassy urged US citizens to avoid the compound. 

That followed an earlier attack on the US embassy in Kuwait.

Meanwhile, the US State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family members from Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Israel also sent troops into southern Lebanon today and ordered residents of more than 80 villages to evacuate.

Lebanese authorities said that Israeli raids in recent days had killed more than 52 people, wounded more than 150 and displaced tens of thousands.

Hezbollah said this morning that it had fired two salvos of rockets towards northern Israel in retaliation while Israeli air strikes overnight damaged a building housing TV and radio stations. 

Senior Hezbollah official Mohamoud Komati warned that after more than a year of observing a ceasefire as Israel’s strikes on Lebanon continued, the group’s patience was exhausted, leading it to “return to resistance” and fight an open war with Israel.