Yemen’s state television has broadcast new footage of Abdul-Mu’in Azzan, a member of a US-Israeli espionage network, detailing a plan proposed by an Israeli intelligence officer to target Mecca’s Grand Mosque and blame Yemeni forces for the attack in an effort to turn Muslim public opinion against Yemen and pave the way for international control of Red Sea security.
In the footage, Azzan recounts a meeting with an Israeli intelligence officer named Shaul Gad in Jordan in late December 2019, when he was visiting the country to attend a security training course affiliated with the United Nations.
According to Azzan’s account, the officer discussed several options for countering the growing capabilities of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, including targeting the Grand Mosque in Mecca or areas surrounding one of Islam’s two holy mosques.
He said the proposed attack would be launched from the Red Sea or another location and made to appear as though it had originated in Yemen, allowing responsibility to be attributed to Yemeni forces.
The objective, Azzan said, was to provoke widespread media controversy and incite Arabs and Muslims against Yemen.
Azzan said he warned the Israeli officer about the dangers of such a plan and stressed the religious significance of the targeted site and the far-reaching consequences of an attack.
The officer responded that Red Sea security would be placed under international control, while the United States would assume responsibility for protecting oil resources, according to Azzan.
He also said Saudi Arabia, Ansarullah and Salafi groups in the desert would be drawn into fighting one another, while Israel would remain on the sidelines and observe developments.
Abdul-Mu’in Hussein Ali Azzan, a native of Yemen’s Dhamar province and a resident of Sanaa, graduated with a degree in French from the Faculty of Arts at Sanaa University in 1999.
His name emerged in 2024 when Yemeni media disclosed details of a US-Israeli espionage network operating in the country.
In previous confessions broadcast by Yemeni media, Azzan said he began working in 2006 with the parliamentary program of the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), where he remained until 2009.
He said his contacts during that period led to cooperation with US intelligence agencies.
Azzan also said he worked for the US company LAPS between 2015 and 2017, preparing information and studies on Ansarullah and developments in Yemen.
After the company closed its office in Yemen, he maintained contact with some of its officials and continued preparing studies on Ansarullah’s structure and activities for the US Department of Defense.
He also described his work at the Sanaa office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, where he was employed from 2019 until his arrest in late 2021.
According to his previous confessions, Azzan used his access to the agency’s information and databases to collect details about government facilities, military positions, missile and drone capabilities, naval assets, and the locations of forces and figures associated with Ansarullah.
He also said he provided information about the residences of some officials and Ansarullah-affiliated facilities in Sanaa and other Yemeni provinces to an Israeli intelligence officer.
While Azzan identified the officer he met in Jordan in December 2019 as Shaul Gad, previous reports by Sanaa-based media referred to the Israeli officer linked to the espionage case as Shaul Jack.