Iran suspends Saudi pilgrimage flights over sexual assault allegations

Published April 14, 2015
The move is likely to deepen tensions between the two regional powers, who are at odds over the war in Yemen. — AFP
The move is likely to deepen tensions between the two regional powers, who are at odds over the war in Yemen. — AFP

DUBAI: Iran has suspended flights to Saudi Arabia for the year-round Umrah pilgrimage over allegations that Saudi security officers sexually assaulted two Iranian boys, Culture Minister Ali Jannati said on Monday.

The move is likely to deepen tensions between the two regional powers, who are at odds over the war in Yemen.

The teenage boys alleged last week that the officers abused them while conducting a security search at Jeddah airport.

"Until these guilty people are put on trial and punished, the Umrah will be stopped and Iranian flights will be suspended," the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) cited Jannati as saying.

The boys were returning to Tehran from the Umrah, a pilgrimage to Makkah that can be undertaken at any time of the year other than during the Hajj.

Several hundred protesters marched on the Saudi embassy in Tehran on Saturday, despite a ban on public demonstrations.

Jannati said the Saudi authorities had arrested the perpetrators and promised to punish them, ISNA reported.

Opinion

Editorial

By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...
Not without reform
Updated 22 Apr, 2024

Not without reform

The problem with us is that our ruling elite is still trying to find a way around the tough reforms that will hit their privileges.
Raisi’s visit
22 Apr, 2024

Raisi’s visit

IRANIAN President Ebrahim Raisi, who begins his three-day trip to Pakistan today, will be visiting the country ...
Janus-faced
22 Apr, 2024

Janus-faced

THE US has done it again. While officially insisting it is committed to a peaceful resolution to the...