Saudi Arabia calls attempted attack on Mecca a 'red line' as Iran-backed Houthis deny they did it

CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia accused Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels overnight of trying to attack Islam’s holiest city, prompting condemnation from countries in the region but no sign of military support. The kingdom, a key U.S. ally, declared Mecca a “red line” as it slid deeper into the new front of the Iran war.

With the world’s biggest oil exporter under fire from the rebels backed by the Saudis' regional adversary, Tehran, the kingdom needs a safe outlet for its crude as well as military assistance. A path to either one remains unclear.

A crucial Saudi pipeline is reportedly shut down for weeks after an attack The Yemen-based Houthis have been targeting infrastructure in the kingdom as well as its shipping on the Red Sea, where they have seized several islands on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. And Iran is still targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices remain above $100 a barrel.

The Houthis denied firing drones toward Mecca, about 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) from Yemen’s border. The Saudis said they intercepted and destroyed the drone before it entered the airspace over the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad.

The attacks are the first test of a new defense pact among Saudi Arabia, NATO member Turkey and nuclear power Pakistan. But officials from Turkey and Pakistan told The Associated Press they have not received a Saudi request for support in response to the Houthis' escalation.

The Turkish official added that efforts to “institutionalize” the alliance need to be completed before the pact becomes operational. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.

As part of the condemnation of the attempted drone attack on Mecca, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country and the Saudis stand “unwaveringly, shoulder to shoulder.” Criticism also came from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, representing over 57 Muslim states, which said the attempt violates the “sanctity of holy sites.”

This was the second attempted attack by the Houthis against Mecca after the rebels fired a ballistic missile toward the city in 2017, according to Col. Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the rebels.

Later Wednesday, the rebels claimed, without offering evidence, that they shot down an F-15 fighter jet operated by the Saudi-led coalition over the central province of Marib. Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree didn’t say when it occurred, and the AP couldn’t independently verify the claim.

The rebels at times take days to claim attacks.

Spokespeople for the Saudi-led coalition and the Saudi government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United States has sold billions of dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia and has committed to providing training and other support to protect the kingdom, but top U.S. officials in recent days have indicated a lack of desire to get involved in the conflict.

“The Houthis called us, and they don’t want to fight with us,” U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday, adding that the rebels appear focused on the Saudis.

Vice President J.D. Vance on Monday said Washington had been in “constant contact” with the Saudis and had been “engaged in direct conversations with the Houthis themselves,” calling it “a very fluid and dynamic thing” to be monitored.

On the ground, forces with Yemen's internationally recognized government have said they are regrouping to combat the Houthis after fleeing the rebels' advance. But those forces are a collection of armed groups with varying aims.

While Saudi Arabia appeared to face the choice of pursuing diplomacy or taking the fight to the Houthis, the top diplomat for rival Iran was in China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the U.S. and Iran to exercise restraint and reopen the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible, and expressed China’s concern about the fighting's spread to Yemen and the Red Sea, according to China’s foreign ministry after the meeting with Abbas Araghchi.

There was no immediate comment from Araghchi afterward.

China has avoided direct involvement in the war, but President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in New Delhi over the weekend again offered Beijing's help in ending it.

Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have recovered somewhat as tankers risk using a route near Oman on the other side of the waterway, with guidance from U.S. forces. Estimates vary because ships can turn off location systems but range from 5 million to 7 million barrels per day on average, less than half the amount before the war began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.

Frazer reported from Ankara, Ahmed from Islamabad and Anna from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and David McHugh in Frankfurt contributed to this report.

This image taken from an undated video released Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, by the Ansar Allah Media Office, the media arm of Yemen's Houthi rebels, shows what the group says are Houthi fighters battling Saudi-backed forces in eastern Jawf, Yemen. (Ansar Allah Media Office via AP)

A man stands beside a portrait of Houthi fighter Mohammed Omar Ali al-Saqqaf, also known as Abu Fatima, mounted on a pickup truck during a mass funeral procession, with Al-Saleh Mosque in the background, in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo)

Pickup trucks travel in a mass funeral procession for Houthi officers and other military personnel in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo)

Displaced Yemenis from the west coast, register to receive free medical care at The Prince Mohammed bin Salman Hospital in Aden, Yemen, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

Displaced Yemenis from the West coast wait to receive medical care at Prince Mohammed bin Salman Hospital in Aden, Yemen, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

A displaced person walks through a camp in Taiz province, Yemen, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Marzouq Al Jabri)

This image taken from an undated video released Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, by the Ansar Allah Media Office, the media arm of Yemen's Houthi rebels, shows what the group says are Houthi fighters firing a weapon mounted on a pickup truck during combat with Saudi-backed forces in eastern Jawf, Yemen. (Ansar Allah Media Office via AP)

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's top official proposed on Wednesday banning children under 13 across the 27-nation bloc from using social media sites and imposing limits for older teens on accessing the platforms.

The plan outlined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen adds to global efforts to protect young people using platforms such as Instagram and TikTok from online harm.

“I am aware that many perceive the power of Big Tech as overwhelming and impossible to roll back. I disagree,” von der Leyen said in her annual State of the European Union speech in Strasbourg.

“We do not have to accept addictive features. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept that girls have their photos used for AI-generated sexualized images,” she said.

Von der Leyen said that under her proposal “mini accounts” chaperoned by guardians would be granted to kids aged 13-15, with limits on features and the amount of time they can be accessed.

For 15-to-18-year-olds, platforms will need to provide a “safe design," she said. Further details of the plan are expected Thursday.

The EU’s 27 member nations still need to debate and vote on the proposal, which could take years and spark tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has long criticized Europe’s tech regulations.

Brando Benifei, an Italian member of the European Parliament, said he supported the plan and that Brussels shouldn't shy away from a showdown with the dominant U.S. tech companies.

“To apply this, you need to confront in a very frontal way the interests of platforms and Big Tech who are not happy with this,” he said.

Von der Leyen was advancing a plan she foreshadowed earlier this year, when she said kids should be exposed to social media in a “phased and gradual” way.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok already prohibit anyone under 13 from opening an account, but authorities have accused the companies of failing to keep them off.

But some experts said the commission was failing to tackle a more fundamental issue with the social media industry’s core business practices based on getting users hooked on scrolling through addictive content while showing them ads.

The plan “merely delays young people’s exposure to the risks of online harm instead of addressing the business model and extractive practices which fuel it,” said Simeon de Brouwer, a policy advisor at digital rights group EDRi. The platforms will “unavoidably target them as soon as they’re a day older than the threshold.”

The commission’s proposal is part of a wider global push to protect young people online and represents the first move to introduce a bloc-wide age limit for social media.

Individual European countries such as Spain and Portugal have taken their own steps to ban teens from social media platforms, mirroring regulatory actions in other places like Australia and New Zealand

Some efforts have run into roadblocks. France’s top court last month struck down a law banning children under 15 from social media, saying it infringed on fundamental freedoms. French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to rework the proposal.

In the United States, social media company Meta Platforms last month agreed to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to resolve a trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by nearly every state.

Manfred Weber, the head of the largest group in the European Parliament, spoke after von der Leyen to propose that the EU follow Australia's lead in allowing citizens to switch off social media algorithms.

“Elon Musk will not like it, but probably that is a reason for doing it,” he said.

Von der Leyen also weighed in on the intensifying debate about artificial intelligence and the potential risks it poses to humanity, saying the commission would discuss efforts to slow down advanced AI development with leading AI companies.

She said the EU would work with “like-minded partners” like Canada and Britain.

“We want to team up on model evaluation, verification, early warning, AI security and much more,” she said.

Chan reported from London.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech at the annual State of the European Union at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday, Sept 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)

FILE - A child plays with his father's phone outside a school in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives to attend the International Space Summit in Paris Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (Abdul Saboor/Pool Photo via AP)