Rouhani Calls for Assurance on Punishment of Sexual Assault Criminals in Jeddah

Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, in a letter to the Minister of Culture, requested that the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization and the Iranian Foreign Ministry ensure the punishment of the criminals involved in the "sexual assault" of two Iranian teenagers in Saudi Arabia. On Saturday, April 22, Tasnim News Agency reported that Rouhani urged the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, to seriously continue their follow-ups with Saudi officials regarding the punishment of the offenders and to ensure the safety of pilgrims, providing a detailed and comprehensive report for decision-making. Meanwhile, according to ISNA news agency, Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, stated on Sunday, April 23, that if the two Saudi officials are not executed, the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization and the Foreign Ministry "must make a serious decision." On Tuesday, April 17, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister reported that during the second week of the Nowruz holidays, while inspecting an Iranian Umrah caravan, Jeddah airport officials separated the two Iranian teenagers from the rest, claiming to suspect them, and subjected them to sexual harassment. Additionally, according to the Central News Unit, Hassan Qashqavi, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, stated that "a high-ranking Saudi official" emphasized the "harshest punishment for the two guilty officials" during a meeting with Hossein Sadeghi, the Iranian ambassador in Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday. On Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Saudi embassy, demanding the closure of the embassy and the cancellation of the Umrah pilgrimage due to the "sexual assault" on the two Iranian teenagers. Meanwhile, Mostafa Afzali Fard, a member of the National Security Commission of Parliament, referred to requests for the expulsion of the Saudi chargé d'affaires from Iran, quoting Foreign Ministry officials who stated that decision-making in this regard falls under the authority of the Supreme National Security Council. According to the House of Parliament news agency, he predicted that the proposal by parliament representatives to temporarily cancel the "Umrah pilgrimage" would be approved with a high vote if presented in a public session. A group of Iranian parliament representatives has prepared an urgent proposal aimed at temporarily canceling the "Umrah pilgrimage." This comes as Nasser Khodrnejad, the deputy of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization of Iran, stated on Saturday, April 22, that "many flights of Iranian pilgrims have been canceled in the past two days due to the lack of visa issuance by the Saudis." On Wednesday, April 19, Jeddah airport also prevented the landing of Iran Air flight 747, which was carrying Iranian pilgrims from Isfahan. Shahrokh Nooshabadi, the public relations director of Iran's national airline, stated that this incident "is certainly not unrelated to the prevailing political conditions in the region." Prior to the news of the "sexual assault" being published, relations between Tehran and Riyadh had already been tense over various issues, including the latest developments in Yemen. In this context, the Iranian Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization stated: "We have not canceled the Umrah; Saudi Arabia is not issuing visas." The Ministry of Interior: No permit has been issued for gatherings in front of the Saudi embassy. Hundreds of protesters gathered against the "sexual assault" of two teenagers in front of the Saudi embassy. Iran Air: The return of the plane from Saudi Arabia is not unrelated to the political conditions.