The Conference of Yemeni Scholars issued a statement on Thursday categorically rejecting Saudi Arabia's claim that Mecca was targeted, dismissing it as "pure fabrication" by a "regime known for lies and fabrications."
The scholars warned against any country joining the Saudi-led aggression against Yemen, warning that the claim hands "Israel" "a valuable opportunity" to target the holy sites and sow discord among Muslims.
They further accused Saudi Arabia of exploiting the Two Holy Mosques for "colonial objectives aimed at dividing the Islamic world and controlling the wealth of Muslims," and said the attempt to tarnish Yemen's resistance would fail "just as its previous attempts have failed."
The statement called on scholars and media worldwide to stand with Yemen under blockade, and praised the Grand Muftis of Oman and Libya for their positions. It also urged Muslim institutions, namely Al-Azhar, the International Union of Muslim Scholars, and the Muslim World League, not to be drawn into rhetoric against the Yemeni people, calling instead for pressure to lift the blockade.
The scholars closed by rejecting the "manufactured media uproar," insisting it would not deter Yemen from responding to the blockade with blockade, and asserting that "the real danger to Holy Mecca and the Holy Kaaba lies in the American and Western military bases" on the Arabian Peninsula.
The scholars' statement follows similar rejections from Yemeni officials. President of Yemen's Supreme Political Council Mahdi al-Mashat dismissed the Saudi claims on Wednesday as "a desperate attempt to rally the peoples," saying "the one who gifted the Kiswah of the Holy Kaaba to the criminal Epstein is the one targeting Mecca and the Islamic sanctities," a reference to Kaaba tapestries shipped to Jeffrey Epstein in 2017.
A Yemeni military source also condemned the "fabrication, deception, and misinformation," telling SABA news agency that the claims were intended to tarnish Yemen's image and generate sympathy for Saudi Arabia, calling it "an old tactic previously used by the Saudi enemy."
This is not the first time Saudi Arabia has leveled such an allegation against Yemen.
In 2017, the Saudi-led coalition claimed it intercepted a ballistic missile toward Mecca, some 69 kilometers away in Taif province, a claim the Yemeni Armed Forces flatly rejected at the time.