Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh as fighting tied to the Iran war expanded across the region, while Tehran sent Washington terms for ending the conflict, Israel carried out strikes in Gaza and Lebanon, and Turkey signaled possible military support for the kingdom.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.

Saudi Arabia said Saturday that its air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi movement toward Riyadh, marking the first attempted strike on the Saudi capital since renewed fighting with the Iran-aligned group opened another front in the wider Middle East conflict.

Residents reported hearing an explosion around dawn, and a plume of smoke was later visible near Riyadh’s airport. Saudi authorities reported no casualties or damage from the missile attack.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said additional attacks were attempted against civilian infrastructure in Yanbu, Taif, Baysh and Farasan but were also thwarted. Yanbu is an important Red Sea energy center where a major Saudi oil pipeline terminates.

The Houthis offered a different account, claiming without independently verified evidence that their forces had struck “sensitive sites” in Riyadh and facilities belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco in Yanbu, causing “massive fires.”

Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the attacks involved cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones. He also accused Saudi Arabia of attempting to strike the Houthi-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa, but provided no supporting details. The Associated Press said it could not independently verify the Houthi claims.

The Riyadh strike attempt came as regional diplomacy continued on several fronts.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran has delivered its conditions for ending the war to the United States through Qatar and is waiting for President Donald Trump’s response.

Rezaei said Iran is seeking an end to fighting on all fronts, the release of frozen Iranian assets and termination of the U.S. naval blockade. He also said Tehran wants the fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen to end.

Qatar and Pakistan have been attempting to restore negotiations after an earlier U.S.-Iran diplomatic arrangement collapsed.

The new Iranian proposal came as U.S. military officials reported increased commercial movement through the Strait of Hormuz despite continued disruptions caused by the war.

Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, said American forces have supported the transit of 1 billion barrels of oil through Hormuz during the past two months. Cooper also asserted that Iran has “exported zero barrels” because of the U.S. naval blockade.

Cooper said the strait’s primary shipping lanes have been cleared of mines and that the amount of oil, liquefied natural gas and other cargo moving through the waterway during the previous two weeks was higher than at any point in the preceding six months.

Shipping monitors, however, say overall traffic remains substantially below prewar levels. Iran has continued attacking ships while asserting control over the strait, which before the war carried roughly one-fifth of internationally traded oil and natural gas.

Iran also announced Saturday that it had executed a man convicted of spying for Israel.

Iranian state television identified the man as Hossein Pedram and said he had provided Israel’s Mossad intelligence service with classified information involving “sensitive military sites” in Isfahan province.

The report said the locations included missile bases targeted during last year’s 12-day air war involving Iran, Israel and the United States. Iranian authorities did not explain how Pedram allegedly obtained the information.

His execution comes amid an increase in executions in Iran that has drawn criticism from international human rights organizations.

Fighting also continued in Gaza on Saturday.

Gaza’s Health Ministry and officials at Shifa Hospital said Israeli strikes killed three men in Gaza City and the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp.

One man was killed in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City. Another, identified as the son of the Gaza Health Ministry’s director general, was killed while walking in the Jabaliya refugee camp.

The Israeli military said it had struck “several military operatives.”

Later Saturday, Shifa Hospital officials said an Israeli strike against a civilian vehicle in Gaza City killed another person and wounded at least four.

“The body was completely charred,” Shifa Hospital Managing Director Rami Mhanna said.

The Israeli military said it “struck a Hamas military operative.”

The heaviest combat between Israel and Hamas has diminished since a ceasefire took effect last October, but Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli fire has killed more than 13,780 Palestinians since then.

Israeli forces simultaneously carried out strikes in southern Lebanon.

Israel’s military said it attacked Hezbollah targets in several areas after two Israeli soldiers were wounded when their vehicle drove over an explosive device in an area of southern Lebanon occupied by Israeli troops.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported three Israeli strikes on Nabatiyeh al-Fawqa. The agency said the third strike nearly hit paramedics traveling toward the area, but no injuries were reported.

As fighting continued, Pakistan pressed Iran over the security of regional energy shipments.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke by telephone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi about maintaining uninterrupted energy supplies and protecting commercial shipping.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Dar emphasized the potential consequences of shipping disruptions for developing economies and global supply chains.

Higher energy costs have become an increasingly significant domestic issue for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government. An Islamist political party has threatened a march on Islamabad unless fuel prices are lowered.

Turkey, meanwhile, indicated that the widening conflict could activate deeper military cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara could provide support to the kingdom under a recently signed three-country defense agreement involving Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Asked whether the alliance could become involved militarily against the Houthis, Fidan said Turkey would “face no difficulty in meeting” Saudi military needs.

“We observe very serious attacks on Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Fidan told broadcaster NTV. “We have an alliance agreement in place and we stand by our word.”

The agreement provides that an armed attack against one of the three countries is to be treated as an attack against all three, although the mechanisms governing how that commitment would be implemented remain less developed than those of longstanding military alliances such as NATO.

Another dispute unfolded inside Iran after authorities moved against organizers of a running event in Tehran.

Iranian state television said prosecutors filed charges after women participated in the race without wearing mandatory head coverings, saying “legal and Islamic Sharia” had not been observed.

Online footage showed women participating in the 10-kilometer, or 6-mile, race without headscarves.

Habib Sotoudehnejad, who heads Tehran’s sports department, said approximately 5% of participants violated the rules. Men and women competed separately.

The country requires women to cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothing in public under laws enforced by the ruling government.

In Gaza, another consequence of years of conflict was visible as children began a new academic year under severely diminished conditions.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said more than 280,000 children are attending school in tents or heavily damaged classrooms.

At a UNRWA school in Nuseirat, some classrooms lack desks, forcing children to sit on blankets placed on the floor. Families said returning to school nevertheless restored some of the routine disrupted by years of war.

UNRWA education program chief Tawfiq al-Hourani said the agency operated 182 fully equipped schools in Gaza three years ago and that 95% have since been lost.

Saturday’s developments underscored the widening scope of the region’s interconnected conflicts.

The Houthi missile attack brought the fighting directly toward Riyadh as Saudi Arabia confronted threats to cities and energy infrastructure. Iran simultaneously pursued indirect negotiations with Washington while the U.S. maintained its naval blockade. Israel continued military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, and Turkey signaled that its defense commitments to Saudi Arabia could translate into direct assistance if Riyadh requests it.

For the region, the military and diplomatic tracks are now unfolding simultaneously: attacks are expanding geographically even as Iran, Qatar, Pakistan and other governments pursue negotiations intended to contain or end the broader war.

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