Iran suspends Hajj, Umrah to Muslim
holy places in Saudi Arabia 
13 April 2015
Iran has suspended pilgrimages to the Muslim holy places in Saudi Arabia in protest at an alleged sexual assault attempt against two teenage Iranian boys, the culture minister said on Monday.
According to Iranian media reports, two Saudi police are alleged to have attempted to assault the youngsters at Jeddah airport as they prepared to fly home from a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina two weeks ago.
In addition to the annual hajj, which was held most recently last October, Muslims also undertake the lesser pilgrimage or umrah throughout the year.
"I have ordered the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organisation to suspend the lesser pilgrimage until the criminals are tried and punished," Culture Minister Ali Jannati told state television.
All pilgrimages by Iranians to the Muslim holy places fall under the organisation's auspices and each year around 500,000 perform the umrah.
President Hassan Rouhani tasked Jannati with drawing up a response amid a mounting outcry in Iran over the allegations.
Hundreds demonstrated outside the Saudi embassy in Tehran on Saturday.
"Considering what has happened, Iranians' dignity has been damaged and a public demand has formed," the minister said.
Jannati said the Saudi authorities had arrested the two police officers at the centre of the allegations.
"We have spoken to Saudi officials through diplomatic channels and they have promised to punish the persons in custody," he said.
"They even asserted that they would execute them but nothing has been done in reality so far."
The outcry over the allegations comes with relations between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia already tense over the Saudi-led air war against Shiite rebels in Yemen.
Tehran has condemned the Saudi-led campaign and has strongly denied Riyadh's accusations that it has armed the rebels.
http://www.dailysabah.com/mideast/20...n-saudi-arabia
Iran Suspends Umrah Hajj Pilgrimage
after Abuse Case at Saudi Airport
April 13, 2015
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran suspended the Umrah (minor) Hajj pilgrimage on Monday in the wake of molestation of two Iranian teenage pilgrims at Jeddah airport, saying the situation will be normalized once Riyadh hands out the maximum punishment to the offenders.
Speaking to Tasnim on Monday, Spokesman for Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Hossein Noushabadi said the decision to halt the religious trips was made on the president's order.
There will be a moratorium on sending pilgrims to Umrah Hajj until the Jeddah airport's criminal officers are punished, Noushabadi added.
The Umrah is a pilgrimage to Mecca performed by Muslims and can be undertaken at any time of the year in comparison with the major hajj pilgrimage which is performed annually within a specific period of time.
Elsewhere, the Iranian official expressed the hope that the Saudis would honor their pledge to give the molesters the maximum punishment, saying that the mere apprehension of the perpetrators is not enough.
In a Saturday letter to the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati, President Rouhani tasked the country’s officials at the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization and the Foreign Ministry to stay in touch with the Saudi officials and pursue the case seriously.
He also called on the Iranian officials to make sure that the offenders are punished and the security of the Iranian pilgrims are guaranteed.
The two Iranian teenage boys were harassed by the Saudi officers at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport when the offenders took them away during body search, citing suspicion.
http://www.tasnimnews.com/english/Home/Single/709551
Iran suspends Umrah flights over abuse charge
13 April 2015
Iran has suspended flights to Saudi Arabia for the year-round Umrah Islamic pilgrimage over allegations that Saudi security officers 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 Haj.
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. - Reuters
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/INTNEWS_279631.html 
crane 3C1 on extreme right
stood for his last Sermon
