Saudi Arabia Issues Nationwide Aerial Threat Alerts; Iran Executes Alleged Mossad Spy

Saudi Arabia issued a series of emergency alerts across the kingdom late Friday and early Saturday after warning of a "hostile aerial threat," with at least one explosion heard in the capital, Riyadh.

The alert in Riyadh was the first for the Saudi capital since the latest escalation with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. No casualties or damage were reported once the alerts were lifted.

Saudi authorities did not specify what triggered the warnings or the cause of the audible explosions. They have previously reported intercepting incoming Houthi missiles and drones.

Late Friday, the United Nations Security Council said the Houthis' military escalation, attacks and threats "risk further expanding the conflict, threatening maritime security and international trade" while undermining regional and international efforts to secure peace in Yemen. The 15-member body warned that continued escalation would worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in the country.

The council called for "practical cooperation" to prevent the Iran-backed Houthis from acquiring arms, military training, financing and other military-related assistance needed to carry out their attacks. It stressed that all countries must enforce the UN arms embargo against the rebel group.

Separately, Iran's state TV reported on Saturday that a man identified as Hossein Pedram was executed after being convicted on charges of spying for Israel's intelligence agency Mossad.

The report said Pedram passed on to Israel classified information on "sensitive military sites" in Iran's Isfahan province. It did not say how he accessed the classified information.

Pedram was reportedly arrested after those sites, which included missile bases, were targeted in the 12-day air war by the U.S. and Israel against Iran in June last year.

A recent surge of executions in Iran has prompted an international outcry by human rights groups.