Saudi Arabia accused Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels of attempting to attack Mecca, Islam's holiest city. Riyadh said it intercepted a drone before it entered Mecca's airspace and declared the city a 'red line' as it slid deeper into the new front of the Iran war. The Houthis denied targeting the holy city and claimed to have shot down a Saudi-led coalition F-15. The region responded with condemnation but no sign of military support. A crucial Saudi pipeline has been shut down, reportedly for weeks, after an attack by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. The Houthis have been targeting infrastructure in the kingdom and its shipping on the Red Sea, where they have seized several islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. With the world's biggest oil exporter under fire from rebels backed by the Saudis' regional adversary, the kingdom needs a safe outlet for its crude as well as military assistance, but there is no clear path to either.