Dubai: Saudi Arabia warned of a “hostile aerial threat” and issued a series of emergency alerts across the kingdom late Friday and early Saturday, including in the capital Riyadh, as tensions with Yemen's Houthi movement intensified.
At least one explosion was heard in Riyadh. No casualties or damage were reported after the alerts were lifted, and Saudi authorities did not immediately say what had triggered them or identify the cause of the explosions.
The alert in Riyadh was the first reported in the capital since the latest escalation involving the Houthis. Saudi Arabia has previously reported intercepting Houthi missiles and drones targeting its territory.
The UN Security Council on Friday condemned Houthi military attacks and threats against Saudi Arabia and commercial vessels, warning that the escalation could further expand the conflict, threaten maritime security and disrupt international trade.
The 15-member council called for practical cooperation to prevent the Houthis from obtaining weapons, military training, financing and other assistance used to carry out attacks. It also urged countries to enforce the UN arms embargo against the group.
The UN warned that continued escalation could further worsen Yemen's already severe humanitarian crisis.
The current tensions are rooted in Yemen's civil war. The Houthis, a Zaydi Shia movement that emerged in northern Yemen in the 1990s, seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 after years of conflict with the Yemeni government. Saudi Arabia then led a military coalition into Yemen in March 2015, intervening on behalf of the internationally recognised government and seeking to push back the Houthis, who had developed close ties with Iran. Reuters reported that the intervention began years of civil war and cross-border attacks involving missiles and drones.
A UN-brokered truce in 2022 significantly reduced fighting, although it expired without a formal peace agreement. The relative calm lasted for several years, but fighting has recently intensified again, with Houthi forces making territorial gains along Yemen's Red Sea coast and launching attacks on Saudi targets. Reuters reported that the renewed fighting has displaced more than 100,000 people inside Yemen.
The latest escalation has implications beyond Saudi Arabia and Yemen because of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow waterway between Yemen and Djibouti and Eritrea that connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
Reuters reported that the strait is a crucial route for goods and energy moving between Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal. Houthi attacks on commercial shipping since 2023 have previously forced vessels to take longer routes around Africa, adding to transport times and costs.
The current Houthi advance along Yemen's Red Sea coast has renewed concerns over the security of the waterway. Reuters reported that control or disruption of the Bab el-Mandeb could give the Houthis greater leverage over international shipping, while the UN has warned that continued escalation threatens maritime security and international trade.
The Houthis' transformation from a Yemeni armed movement into a force capable of threatening Saudi Arabia, Israel and international shipping is central to understanding the latest escalation.
Read in detail: How the Houthis became a regional threat in West Asia — A Reuters explainer tracing the group's rise, its military capabilities, relationship with Iran and growing role in regional conflicts.
Separately, Iran's judiciary said it had executed Hossein Pedram, who was convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.
Iranian authorities accused Pedram of passing classified information about sensitive military sites in Isfahan province to Israel. Reuters reported that his death sentence had been upheld by Iran's Supreme Court.
The execution comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel and a broader increase in executions in Iran involving people convicted of national-security offences.
(With inputs from AP via PTI | UN Security Council | Reuters)