Saudi Arabia on Wednesday accused Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels of trying to attack Mecca, Islam's holiest city, and declared the city a "red line". The Houthis denied firing drones towards Mecca, but the Saudis said they intercepted and destroyed a drone before it entered the city's airspace. Photo: Internet Source

The accusation came as the kingdom faced continued attacks on its infrastructure and shipping, rising oil prices and uncertainty over outside support. Turkey and Pakistan, part of a new defence pact with Saudi Arabia, said they had not received any request for military help, while top US officials signalled no immediate desire to enter the conflict.

Saudi Arabia, a key US ally and the world's biggest oil exporter, is under pressure as fighting linked to the wider Iran conflict deepens. A key Saudi pipeline has reportedly been shut for weeks after an attack by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. The Houthis have also been targeting Saudi infrastructure and shipping in the Red Sea, where they have seized several islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Iran, meanwhile, is still targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices remain above USD 100 a barrel.

The Houthis denied the Saudi account of the attempted strike on Mecca, which lies about 1,100 kilometres from Yemen's border. Saudi coalition spokesperson Col Turki al-Maliki said this was the second attempted Houthi attack on Mecca after a ballistic missile was fired towards the city in 2017.

The developments have become the first test of the new defence pact involving Saudi Arabia, NATO member Turkey and nuclear-armed Pakistan. However, officials from Turkey and Pakistan told The Associated Press that Saudi Arabia had not asked for support in response to the Houthi escalation. A Turkish official said efforts to "institutionalise" the alliance still needed to be completed before the pact became operational.

Even so, the attempted attack on Mecca drew strong condemnation. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia stand "unwaveringly, shoulder to shoulder". Turkey's foreign minister expressed solidarity and said no country can "remain indifferent", according to state-run Anadolu Agency. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which represents more than 57 Muslim states, said the attempt violated the "sanctity of holy sites".

Later on Wednesday, the Houthis claimed, without providing evidence, that they had shot down an F-15 fighter jet operated by the Saudi-led coalition over Yemen's central Marib province. Houthi military spokesperson Brig Gen Yahya Saree did not say when it happened, and The Associated Press said it could not independently verify the claim. Spokespeople for the Saudi-led coalition and the Saudi government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The United States, despite selling billions of dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia and providing training and other support, has indicated that it does not want to be drawn into the fighting. "The Houthis called us, and they don't want to fight with us," US President Donald Trump said on Saturday, adding that the rebels appeared to be focused on the Saudis. Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that Washington had been in "constant contact" with Saudi Arabia and had been "engaged in direct conversations with the Houthis themselves", calling the situation "a very fluid and dynamic thing" that needed monitoring.

On the ground in Yemen, forces aligned with the internationally recognised government said they were regrouping after retreating in the face of Houthi advances. But those forces are made up of armed groups with differing aims. The International Organization for Migration said the number of Yemeni civilians fleeing the fighting had again risen to more than 100,000, adding to fears of a return to civil war in the Arab world's poorest country.

As Saudi Arabia weighed diplomacy against further escalation, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the US and Iran to show restraint and reopen the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible, and voiced concern over the spread of fighting to Yemen and the Red Sea, according to China's Foreign Ministry. Araghchi said Tehran wanted "the restoration of calm to the region and friendly and peaceful relations with our neighbors" and added, "In this regard we have begun dialogue with the countries of the region." China has stayed out of the war directly, though President Xi Jinping again offered Beijing's help in ending it at the BRICS summit in New Delhi over the weekend.

Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have partly recovered as tankers take a route near Oman with guidance from US forces, though estimates vary because ships can switch off location systems. The volume is estimated at 5 million to 7 million barrels a day on average, still less than half of what moved before the war began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Overall, the latest accusations, attacks and diplomatic moves underscored the pressure on Saudi Arabia as it faces a widening conflict with limited signs of direct military backing.