Saudi Arabia’s King Salman slams targeting of Mecca by ‘terrorist’ Houthis

Saudi monarch’s rare condemnation hints at sense of urgency in the kingdom amid ramped-up attacks from Yemen.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud [Handout/Saudi Press Agency]

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has branded Yemen’s armed Houthi movement a “terrorist militia” and accused the Iran-allied group of repeatedly targeting the holy city of Mecca.

The 90-year-old Saudi monarch made the comments during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

It was a rare sharp intervention in current affairs by the king, as most day-to-day affairs are led by his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Deadly Houthi attacks this month have marked one of the greatest threats to Saudi Arabia’s security in years.

King Salman called the suspected Houthi targeting of the holy city a “heinous crime” and a provocation against Muslim sentiment worldwide, according to SPA.

Last week, Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a drone launched by the Houthis towards Mecca , an accusation that the Houthis strongly denied, with Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi calling the Saudi claims “a heinous lie”.

It was the first time in nearly 10 years that a security alert had been activated in Mecca, home to the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site.

The Saudi monarch commended the military and security services for “defending the homeland and resolutely confronting any aggression against the holy sites, pilgrims, citizens and residents of the Kingdom”.

Saudi cities targeted

King Salman also cited a meeting between the crown prince and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo last week , as well as his conversations with French President Emmanuel Macron on “efforts to enhance regional stability and ensure the security and freedom of maritime navigation”.

Houthi missile and drone attacks increasingly target Saudi cities , energy infrastructure and shipping, opening another front in the wider regional conflict that began with the United States and Israel’s war on Iran in February.

On Saturday, Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen said they had intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards the Saudi capital Riyadh, sending a dark column of smoke from a fuel storage area at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

The escalation has also raised the stakes for global energy supplies, as Houthi fighters expanded their control to Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast, which has been used as an alternative route for Saudi oil exports amid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Amid growing regional tensions, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan last month signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, which treats an armed attack on any of its three member countries as an attack on all three.

沙特国王罕见的谴责表明，面对也门袭击的加剧，沙特王国已感受到紧迫感。

沙特阿拉伯国王萨勒曼·本·阿卜杜勒-阿齐兹·阿勒沙特 [图片由沙特通讯社提供]

沙特阿拉伯国王萨勒曼·本·阿卜杜勒-阿齐兹·阿勒沙特将也门胡塞武装运动称为“恐怖民兵”，并指责这个与伊朗结盟的组织屡次袭击圣城麦加。

据沙特官方通讯社（SPA）报道，这位90岁的沙特国王在周二的内阁会议上发表了上述言论。

这是国王罕见地对时事进行强硬干预，因为大多数日常事务都由他的儿子，王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼主导。

本月胡塞武装发动的致命袭击，标志着沙特阿拉伯的安全面临多年来最大的威胁之一。

据沙特通讯社报道，萨勒曼国王称胡塞武装疑似袭击圣城的行为是“令人发指的罪行”，是对全世界穆斯林情绪的挑衅。

上周，沙特阿拉伯表示拦截了一架胡塞武装向麦加发射的无人机，胡塞武装强烈否认了这一指控，胡塞武装领导人阿卜杜勒-马利克·胡塞称沙特的说法是“弥天大谎”。

这是近十年来麦加（伊斯兰教最神圣的圣地克尔白所在地）首次启动安全警报。

沙特国王赞扬军队和安全部门“保卫祖国，坚决抵制任何针对圣地、朝圣者、王国公民和居民的侵略”。

沙特城市成为攻击目标

萨勒曼国王还提到了王储上周在开罗与埃及总统阿卜杜勒·法塔赫·塞西的会晤，以及他与法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙就“加强地区稳定和确保海上航行安全与自由”进行的对话。

胡塞武装的导弹和无人机袭击越来越多地针对沙特阿拉伯的城市、能源基础设施和航运，这在始于2月份美国和以色列对伊朗发动的战争的更广泛的地区冲突中开辟了另一个战线。

周六，沙特领导的也门联军表示，他们拦截了一枚胡塞武装向沙特首都利雅得发射的弹道导弹，导弹从利雅得哈立德国王国际机场的一个燃料储存区升起一股浓烟。

局势升级也加剧了全球能源供应的风险，因为胡塞武装将控制范围扩大到也门的整个红海沿岸，在霍尔木兹海峡被封锁期间，红海沿岸被用作沙特阿拉伯石油出口的替代路线。

在地区紧张局势日益加剧的背景下，沙特阿拉伯、土耳其和巴基斯坦上个月签署了《麦加联合防御协议》，该协议规定，对其中任何一个成员国的武装袭击都被视为对这三个国家的袭击。