The Iranian-backed Houthis are waging a propaganda war against Saudi Arabia by tying its leadership to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthis’ Supreme Political Council, condemned the Saudis for having allegedly given Epstein tapestries that had draped over the building that is the spiritual center of Islam, the Ka'ba.
“Those who gave Epstein the Ka'ba’s cover are the ones targeting Mecca,” Mashat claimed on the Houthis' official news media.
After Mashat's initial statement, numerous social media accounts repeated the condemnation across the internet.
Houthis 'obsessed' with Epstein, 'very plugged in,' analyst says
“They are very plugged in,” Mohammed al-Basha, founder of the risk advisory firm Basha Report and a Yemen analyst in Washington, told NYT.
According to Basha, the Houthis' communication operation includes television channels, websites, radio, newspapers, email campaigns, official and unofficial social media accounts, and cultural influencers, all of which promote and amplify content for the group.
Basha added that the Houthis, as well as all the groups in Iran's "axis of resistance," were "obsessed" with Epstein, using him as a shorthand for US and Israeli corruption.