Saudi Arabia issues aerial threat alert after explosion heard in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia issued emergency alerts across the kingdom, including in Riyadh, late Friday and early Saturday, warning of a "hostile aerial threat". At least one explosion was heard in the Saudi capital, while Iran reported the execution of a man convicted of spying for Israel.
Elsewhere in the region, the UN Security Council condemned Houthi missile attacks, two men were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, and more than 280,000 children in the enclave were reported to be studying in tents and damaged classrooms. Pakistan and Iran also discussed energy supplies and shipping safety, while authorities in Iran and Turkiye took separate legal and regulatory steps linked to domestic rules and pressure on Tehran.
In Saudi Arabia, authorities later lifted the alerts and no casualties or damage were reported. The Saudi government did not say what caused the alerts or the explosions, but it has previously reported intercepting incoming missiles and drones launched by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The alert in Riyadh was the first in the capital since the latest escalation with the Houthis.
Late Friday, the UN Security Council said the Houthis' military escalation, attacks and threats "risk further expanding the conflict, threatening maritime security and international trade," and undermining efforts to secure peace in Yemen. It said continued escalation would worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in the country. The council's 15 members called for "practical cooperation" to stop the Iran-backed group from obtaining arms, military training, financing and other military-related assistance, and stressed that all countries must enforce the UN arms embargo on the rebels.
Iran's state TV said on Saturday that Hossein Pedram was executed after being convicted of spying for Israel's intelligence agency Mossad. The report said he passed classified information on "sensitive military sites" in Isfahan province to Israel, but did not say how he obtained it. It said he was arrested after those sites, including missile bases, were targeted during the 12-day air war involving the US and Israel against Iran in June last year. The report came amid a recent rise in executions in Iran that has drawn criticism from human rights groups.
In Gaza, the Health Ministry and Shifa Hospital officials said one man was killed in the Shijaiyah area of Gaza City, while another man, identified as the son of the ministry's director general, was killed while walking in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Although the heaviest fighting between Israel and Hamas has eased since a ceasefire took effect last October, health officials in Gaza said more than 13,780 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire there since then.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said more than 280,000 children in Gaza are attending school in tents and heavily damaged classrooms after years of war. At a UNRWA-run school in Nuseirat, some classrooms have no desks, with children sitting on blankets on the floor. UNRWA education programme chief Tawfiq al-Hourani said the agency hopes to restore schooling conditions to the level of three years ago, when it ran 182 fully equipped schools, adding that 95 per cent of those schools have since been lost. UNICEF said that, as of April, about 700,000 children aged 4 to 17 in Gaza had missed formal in-person schooling for almost three school years.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, in a telephone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday, discussed uninterrupted energy supplies and safe passage for commercial ships. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Dar underlined the need to ensure ships move safely and quickly, citing the possible impact of disruptions on developing countries and global supply chains. The statement did not give details of Araghchi's response. Pakistan has been facing higher energy prices amid rising tensions, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government, while an Islamist party has threatened to march on Islamabad unless fuel prices are reduced.
In Iran, state TV said the Tehran prosecutor's office had filed charges against race organisers after women took part in a 10-kilometre event without covering their hair because "legal and Islamic Sharia" was not observed. Video shared online showed many women running without the mandatory headscarf. Habib Sotoudehnejad, head of Tehran's sports department, said about 5 per cent of participants had violated race rules. The race was held separately for men and women. In Turkiye, the banking watchdog revoked the operating licence of the Istanbul branch of Iran's Bank Mellat, saying the move was taken to protect depositors or the stability of Turkiye's financial system. The decision came as the United States pressed other countries to tighten economic measures against Iran. Bank Mellat has faced Western sanctions for years and was named in 2019 as having links to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Overall, Saturday's developments across the Middle East reflected continuing security tensions, the fallout of regional conflict, and fresh political and regulatory action involving Saudi Arabia, Iran, Gaza, Pakistan and Turkiye.
