00:00 On November 20th, 1979, Mecca was taken hostage by militants, marking the beginning of the siege of Mecca that would have a lasting impact on Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world.

05:08 In 1979, militants took the holy mosque in Mecca hostage, leading to a two-week standoff that had far-reaching consequences for Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world.

10:00 In the late 1970s, Saudi Arabia's modernization efforts, including the presence of Western influences and economic progress, angered conservative elements in the country, leading to the rise of Jahayman al-Ataibi, a young Bedouin who opposed these changes and sought to establish a pure Islamic state.

14:23 Jahayman al-Ataibi and his followers, motivated by their belief that his soon-to-be brother-in-law was the Mahdi, planned to attack the Grand Mosque of Mecca in order to remove the Saudi royal family and usher in an Islamic revolution.

18:43 Jahayman and his followers seized the grand mosque in Mecca, taking hostages and causing chaos, while the Saudi authorities struggled to respond and suppress news of the siege.

23:40 The United States initially believed that Iran was responsible for the siege in Mecca, which led to tensions between the two countries and fueled violence in the Muslim world, including attacks on American embassies and the attempted assassination of the Pope. The Saudi government needed a religious decree to stage a military assault on the grand mosque, but the religious authorities wanted certain demands, such as more restrictions on women's rights, to be met before issuing the decree.

28:15 The Saudi government acquiesced to the demands of the religious authorities in order to gain their support for a military operation to retake the grand mosque, and while there is no evidence that the clerics actively orchestrated the siege, they took advantage of the situation to further their own ideas and gain resources from the Saudi state.

32:44 French troops arrived with non-lethal gas to help the Saudi commandos in their final assault on the militants, resulting in a chaotic firefight where many militants, hostages, and soldiers were killed, ultimately leading to the capture and execution of Juhayman and other militants.

38:16 The siege of Mecca had lasting effects on Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world, leading to the rise of conservative ideologies, the empowerment of the religious establishment, and the inspiration of extremist groups like the Islamic State.