By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Yemeni scholars rejected Saudi allegations of a threat against Mecca, calling them fabricated and warning against expanding the Saudi-led military campaign.

Key Takeaways

• The Conference of Yemeni Scholars categorically rejected Saudi Arabia’s allegation that Mecca had been targeted, describing the claim as “pure fabrication.”
• The scholars warned other countries against joining the Saudi-led military campaign and argued that allegations involving Islamic holy sites could deepen divisions across the Muslim world.
• The statement followed similar denials from senior Yemeni officials, including Supreme Political Council President Mahdi al-Mashat and a Yemeni military source.

Scholars Reject Saudi Allegation

The Conference of Yemeni Scholars on Thursday categorically rejected Saudi Arabia’s allegation that Mecca had been targeted from Yemen, describing the accusation as “pure fabrication.”

The scholars accused Riyadh of manufacturing the allegation to discredit Yemen and rally political and religious support for the Saudi-led military campaign.

They warned other countries against joining the campaign against Yemen and argued that invoking Mecca in the confrontation risked creating further divisions among Muslims.

According to the statement, such allegations could also hand Israel “a valuable opportunity” to target Islamic holy sites and sow discord across the Muslim world.

🇸🇦❌🇾🇪❗️ — Footage shows Yemeni government or Royal #SaudiAirForce airstrikes pounding #AnsarAllah positions and military equipment around #Dhubab and #Mokha (Al-Mukha) in western #Yemen.

▶️Armored vehicles and suspected weapons and ammunition depots were among the targets hit… pic.twitter.com/Y8gLAaxNAb

— Mahalaxmi Ramanathan (@MahalaxmiRaman) September 17, 2026

The scholars accused Saudi Arabia of exploiting its custodianship of the Two Holy Mosques for “colonial objectives aimed at dividing the Islamic world and controlling the wealth of Muslims.”

They said attempts to tarnish Yemen’s resistance would fail “just as its previous attempts have failed.”

Muslim Institutions Urged to Reject Saudi Narrative

The statement called on Muslim scholars and media organizations internationally to support Yemen amid the continuing blockade.

It praised the positions taken by the Grand Muftis of Oman and Libya and appealed directly to major Muslim religious institutions, including Al-Azhar, the International Union of Muslim Scholars and the Muslim World League.

The scholars urged the institutions not to join rhetoric directed against Yemen and instead called on them to press for an end to the blockade.

They rejected what they described as a “manufactured media uproar,” saying it would not alter Yemen’s declared equation of responding to “blockade with blockade.”

“The real danger to Holy Mecca and the Holy Kaaba lies in the American and Western military bases” on the Arabian Peninsula, the statement said.

Yemeni Officials Issue Separate Denials

The scholars’ declaration followed similar denials from senior officials in Sana’a.

Mahdi al-Mashat, president of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, dismissed the Saudi allegations on Wednesday as “a desperate attempt to rally the peoples.”

“Lies no longer deceive the peoples of our Arab and Islamic nation, just as claims of threats to international navigation did not succeed before them,” al-Mashat said.

Yemen dismisses Mecca drone allegation, says kiswa donors to Epstein target sanctities https://t.co/orDpQZ579i

— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) September 17, 2026

He said Yemenis were committed to protecting Islamic holy sites and were “prepared to sacrifice themselves in defense of the Sacred House of God.”

Al-Mashat also invoked recent revelations concerning items from the Kiswah, the embroidered covering of the Kaaba, that were sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2017.

“The one who gifted the Kiswah of the Holy Kaaba to the criminal Epstein is the one targeting Mecca and the Islamic sanctities,” he said.

A Yemeni military source separately told the SABA news agency that no threat had been directed from Yemen against Mecca or any other Islamic holy site.

The source accused Saudi Arabia of “fabrication, deception, and misinformation,” arguing that the allegation was intended to damage Yemen’s image and generate sympathy for Riyadh across the Muslim world.

The military source described the allegation as “an old tactic previously used by the Saudi enemy.”

Saudi Arabia made a similar accusation in 2017, when the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a Yemeni ballistic missile headed toward Mecca. Yemeni forces rejected that allegation at the time, saying Mecca had not been the target.

(PC, Al Mayadeen, SABA)