Iran's Human Rights Headquarters Calls Assault on Two Teenagers a 'Systematic Trend'

Iran's Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary has described the 'sexual assault' of two Iranian teenagers in Saudi Arabia as 'a systematic and very dangerous trend' and has alleged that this act was carried out based on a 'fatwa' from one of the 'Imams of Jeddah'. On Monday, April 6, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister reported that during the second week of the Nowruz holidays, while inspecting an Iranian Umrah caravan, Jeddah airport officials, under the pretext of suspecting two Iranian teenagers, separated them from the rest and subjected them to sexual harassment. In this context, and following the reactions of official Iranian authorities, the Human Rights Headquarters of Iran announced on Tuesday, April 17, through a statement on its website that the 'sexual assault' on the two Iranian teenagers occurred 'based on the views expressed by one of the sheikhs and imams of Jeddah, which was stated in a fatwa'. According to the Human Rights Headquarters of the Iranian Judiciary, this Saudi Sheikh 'does not consider such actions to be un-Islamic or illegal, but rather has declared them permissible and acceptable'. The Headquarters did not mention the name of this Saudi 'Imam'. The statement added: 'We cannot regard the unfortunate incident at Jeddah airport as merely a misconduct by one or two security officers, as evidence suggests that we are facing a very dangerous and systematic trend.' The Human Rights Headquarters of the Iranian Judiciary did not provide further details regarding its claims about the fatwa from 'one of the sheikhs and imams of Jeddah'. Meanwhile, some news websites in Iran, including the Entekhab website citing the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Sabah, reported that one of the two police officers accused of 'sexual assault' on the two Iranian teenagers stated in his interrogation that he acted 'at the encouragement of Sheikh Abou Marzouk, the Imam of the Jeddah Grand Mosque'. The Human Rights Headquarters of the Iranian Judiciary has called on Saudi Arabia to take 'decisive and preventive' action against all those who, according to this Headquarters, promote and support such 'acts' in Saudi society, 'beyond just the two errant officers'. This Headquarters also stated that it considers it its right to pursue this incident through international mechanisms based on Articles 44 and 45 of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Human Rights Headquarters of the Iranian Judiciary has also requested the UN Human Rights Council to prevent the recurrence and spread of such actions. A day before this statement, Iran's Minister of Culture, Ali Jannati, announced that the Umrah pilgrimage would be suspended until the prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators of the 'sexual assault' on the two Iranian teenagers in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the CEO of Iran Air announced that Iranian planes would be sent to Saudi Arabia without passengers to return Umrah pilgrims. According to Fars News Agency, Farhad Parvaresh stated that flights from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Jeddah had been operating 'at almost half capacity' in the past two days. He added: 'The reason for the decreased demand for Umrah travel recently is that, firstly, the issuance of Saudi visas has been limited, and we also suspect that many pilgrims have withdrawn from making this trip.' According to Mohammad Ali Ilkhani, advisor to the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, 50% of the 770,000 Umrah pilgrims from Iran were transported by Iranian airlines and the other 50% by Saudi airlines. Despite the suspension of Umrah travel, Iranian officials' comments and protests regarding the Jeddah incident continue. Meanwhile, according to the website Nameh News, Mohammad Taghi Rahbar, the Friday prayer leader of Isfahan, referring to his previous request for the expulsion of the Saudi ambassador from Iran, stated: 'The Iranian nation, with its greatness and grandeur, is being humiliated by a bunch of lizard-eaters who are now the owners of a culture of killing people and committing crimes and immorality against Muslims.' Prior to the news of the 'sexual assault', relations between Tehran and Riyadh had been tense in various matters, including the latest developments in Yemen.