The Organization of Islamic Cooperation's Involvement in the Allegation of 'Bombing Mecca' by the Houthis

While the media of the Islamic Republic has largely kept the issue silent, Riyadh has taken a political initiative that could have both political and religious consequences for the Islamic Republic. According to Al Arabiya television and other Arab media such as Bahrain News Agency, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has announced its agreement to refer the issue of the 'Bombing of Mecca' to the United Nations. Thus, an international Islamic body of the stature of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (comprising 57 countries) has placed its political weight on the issue to refer the bombing of Mecca through this body to a more significant institution like the United Nations. What is the issue of the bombing of Mecca? Given the entry of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation into this matter, the first question is what exactly is the issue of the bombing of Mecca? Has Mecca been hit by any missile? If not, how has an organization the size of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation shown such sensitivity to refer the issue to the United Nations? Who initiated this action? And what are its consequences? The issue of the bombing of Mecca, which has remained largely unreported in Iranian media, refers to the launch of a ballistic missile (known as Burkan 1) by the Houthis of Yemen on October 27. According to Saudi officials, this missile was fired from the city of Saada in Yemen by the Houthis with the intention of targeting Mecca. Saudi Arabia has stated that its air defense was able to intercept the missile 65 kilometers from Mecca. While the Houthis have not denied the firing of this missile (perhaps to demonstrate their considerable missile capabilities), they claim that the missile was aimed at Jeddah Airport, not Mecca. The distance from Jeddah to Mecca is 70 kilometers. After the interception of this missile, Saudi Arabia launched a major media campaign to portray it as targeting Mecca. This city is the birthplace of Islam and one of the holiest places for any Muslim. It hosts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from various countries around the world annually. Threatening Mecca is seen as a threat to the qibla of Muslims and to the lives of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. Given that the Houthis have claimed responsibility for firing the missile, Saudi Arabia has declared that the aim was to target Mecca, while the Houthis assert that their target was Jeddah Airport. In response to this news, Jam Jam Online (affiliated with Iran's state television) previously arranged an interview with a Houthi analyst who claimed that Saudi Arabia is seeking to exploit this incident politically to accuse the Houthis of attacking the holiest city for Muslims. It is clear that the accusation of targeting Mecca (the qibla of Muslims) can provoke significant sensitivity among Muslims. Proving that a group dares to harm Mecca is itself considered evidence of that group's 'non-Islamic' nature. By claiming that the Houthis targeted Mecca, Saudi Arabia has questioned both the Islam of the Houthis and the Islam of their main supporter, the Islamic Republic. It is no coincidence that the UAE foreign minister criticized Tehran just one day after the Houthi missile was intercepted, stating: 'The Iranian regime, which claims to be Islamic, provides ballistic missiles to a group (the Houthis) to target Mecca with those missiles.' This news also holds significant importance from another angle; there is no doubt that the Houthis were not capable of missile technology on their own. This missile capability must have been provided to the Houthis by the Islamic Republic. Similar capabilities have been provided by Iran to Hezbollah and Hamas. Given that Iran's missile capabilities have become a contentious issue between Iran and global powers, if Saudi Arabia can portray Iran's missile capabilities as a threat to the holy sites of Muslims, it would achieve three objectives with one stroke. First: It would label the Houthis as non-Muslims, deem their missile capabilities dangerous, and alter the legitimacy of the war against the Houthis to Riyadh's advantage. Second: It would question the Islamic nature of the Islamic Republic and position this regime against the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Third: Saudi Arabia would be able to expand the threat of Iran's ballistic capabilities, which has already been sensitive enough in the West, to the issue of the Islamic world and organize a broad consensus of Muslim and non-Muslim countries regarding Iran's ballistic capabilities. While Trump has so far taken a hardline stance against Iran, speculation suggests that the honeymoon period between Iran and the U.S. is coming to an end with the departure of Obama and the rise of Trump. Given that the Islamic Republic has left no doubt that the target of its missile capabilities is Israel, if Trump seeks to impose stricter measures on Iran, questioning Iran's ballistic missile capabilities would be the best excuse in his hands, especially if Saudi Arabia has managed to provoke the sensitivity of the Islamic world against Iran's missile capabilities.