A newly convened security coalition known as the Mecca Alliance has issued a pointed warning to Iran over the escalating wave of Houthi attacks targeting Saudi Arabia, marking a significant shift in how Gulf states are framing their response to Iranian-backed militant activity in the region. The alliance, which brings together key Arab states concerned about cross-border threats, signaled that continued Iranian support for the Houthi movement would be treated as a direct act of aggression against member nations.
The warnings come in the wake of revelations from a senior source within the European Union's energy security apparatus, who told OilPrice.com that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) played a hands-on role in directing the September 8 strikes on Saudi territory. According to the source, senior IRGC commanders based in Tehran issued the operational orders for the attacks, while several IRGC officers and personnel stationed on the ground in Yemen coordinated the actual execution of the strikes.
Tehran has consistently maintained an official position that it does not control the Houthi movement, a claim repeated as recently as last week by Iranian officials. However, the source's account adds weight to longstanding accusations from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies that the IRGC has spent years funding, arming, and training Houthi fighters, effectively turning the Yemeni group into a proxy force capable of striking deep inside Saudi borders.
The revelation has intensified already tense relations between Iran and the Saudi-led coalition. Energy security officials across Europe have expressed growing concern that the attacks on Saudi infrastructure could disrupt critical oil and gas supply routes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, areas through which a substantial portion of the world's energy exports pass daily. The Mecca Alliance's warning represents an effort to collectively deter further Iranian escalation while signaling that the Gulf states are no longer willing to absorb Houthi strikes in silence.
