Houthi leader rejects Mecca drone claim, calls for Friday protests
Yemen's Houthi leader denies trying to strike Mecca after Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a drone, and calls for mass protests on Friday.
The leader of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement has rejected Saudi Arabia's accusation that his group attempted to attack Mecca, describing the allegation as an "utterly heinous lie" and a grave slander against the Yemeni people and their armed forces.
In a televised address released on Thursday, Abdul Malik al-Houthi said the claim had been repeated in an effort to give it credibility, calling it ugly and obviously false. His remarks followed a Saudi statement on Wednesday accusing the rebels of trying to strike Islam's holiest city with a drone.
Saudi Arabia declared Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, a "red line" and said its forces had intercepted the drone. The Houthis have denied targeting the city, which lies roughly 1,100 kilometres (680 miles) from Yemen's border. The accusation drew regional condemnation, though there was no indication of military backing for Riyadh's position.
In a social media post on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said a claim of intercepting a drone should not be used to accuse a specific party or to escalate tensions. He also condemned attacks on Islamic holy sites.
Al-Houthi used the speech to criticise Saudi Arabia at length and to call for mass demonstrations. He urged Yemenis to turn out in the millions on Friday in the capital, Sanaa, and in the provinces, saying the rallies would defend Islamic honour, affirm steadfastness in the group's cause and reject what he described as an unjust aggression and blockade. He framed the protests as support for the defence of Islamic holy sites, naming Mecca, Medina and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In the same address, he said strikes deep inside Saudi Arabia had consistently focused on military and air bases and on oil wealth, which he described as the funding source behind Saudi operations against Yemen.
The tensions come as fighting intensifies, with the Houthis having captured the port city of Mokha and an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — a key shipping route seen as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. The developments are also weighing on the wider Iran conflict.