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President Rouhani orders report on Saudi sex abuse

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Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has ordered the preparation of “a precise and comprehensive” report on the recent sexual abuse of two Iranian teenagers by Saudi officers at the Jeddah airport.

In a letter to Iranian Culture Minister Ali Jannati, the Iranian president ordered the country’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization to prepare the report so that a “decision” is made regarding the matter, IRNA reported on Saturday.

“The Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, continue to follow up the matter and ensure the punishment of the culprits and provision of the [Iranian] pilgrims’ security,” Rouhani wrote.

Saudi officers sexually harassed two Iranian teenage boys at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah two weeks ago, prompting Tehran to submit a note of complaint to the Saudi government, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham.

She said on Wednesday that the Foreign Ministry has also summoned the Saudi chargé d’affaires to ask Riyadh to expedite the measures taken in the process of punishing the accused.

On Saturday, a group of Iranians gathered in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran in protest over the indecency, chanting anti-Saudi slogans and calling for closure of the embassy as well as cancellation of Umrah hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

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