DOMINANT ANGLE
Tehran rejects the Saudi accusation regarding Medina and highlights Riyadh's strikes against Yemen, citing Yemeni spokesmen and referring to the coalition's announcements as "claims".
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
A Yemeni military source, quoted by Saba via YJC, considers the Saudi accusation regarding the "Tayyiba" power plant in Medina to be without "basis or foundation".
- 02
Yahya Saree claims that the Saudi air force carried out 51 strikes in 24 hours, for a total of 1,209 since the start of the latest cycle of fighting.
- 03
According to Turki al-Maliki, quoted by Mehr via Al-Jazeera, the coalition intercepted two ballistic missiles and four drones in southern Saudi Arabia.
ANALYSIS
Tehran, October 2, 2026. Iranian media are addressing the Saudi accusation regarding Medina with denial. According to the YJC agency, which quotes Al-Mayadeen, a Yemeni military source rejected on Thursday evening Riyadh's claims that the "Tayyiba" power distribution center in Medina had been targeted. It estimates that these claims have "no basis or foundation" and describes them as "new Saudi slander", intended, according to the source, to cover up the failure of a previous lie about an alleged attack on Mecca.
The text recalls the accusation made by Saudi Arabia: it claims that "the investigation has proven" Ansarallah's involvement in the planning and execution of the attack. The Yemeni source, quoted by the official Saba agency, assures that the Yemeni armed forces "will not remain silent" and "have the right to respond" to these accusations. None of the three dispatches mention the Prophet's Mosque or the condemnations of the Arab League, the OIC, or the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Mehr News emphasizes Saudi military action. Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesman for the Yemeni armed forces, states that the Saudi air force carried out 51 airstrikes and missile launches in 24 hours, with F-15s taking off from the Khamis Mushait base and launches from Najran and Jizan. The targets would be telecommunications networks and civilian facilities in Marib, Saada, Hodeida, Taiz, and Amran. The total since the beginning of the last cycle of fighting would reach 1,209 strikes.
The Persian version of Mehr, which quotes Al-Jazeera, reports the announcements of the coalition's spokesman, General Turki al-Maliki: two ballistic missiles intercepted at Khamis Mushait and Jizan, and four drones destroyed at Khamis Mushait. Each piece of information from the coalition is introduced by the verb "mad'a" (to claim, to assert), including the commitment to pursue what the spokesman calls the "deterrence of Houthi forces". The Houthis are referred to by their name, Ansarallah.
The overall framework is one of an escalation attributed to Riyadh, in which the accusation regarding Medina appears as a disputed Saudi narrative and not as an established fact.
