UAE airport officials strip-search Iranians

Iranian passengers traveling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the past week say they have had to submit to strict body search procedures upon arriving in the Arab state.

UAE airport officials had considerably reduced the number of security checks carried out on Iranian passengers during the past several months.

However, during the past few days, Iranians arriving in the UAE, especially in Dubai, have reported that the country has once again tightened security measures specifically targeting Iranian nationals, IRNA reported on Thursday.

“Almost all male passengers are taken to the inspection rooms for a complete body search,” says one man, explaining that the subjects are then forced to remove all their clothing, including their undergarments, to be allowed to pass through.

Another man, who was also searched, said that the Dubai airport’s security personnel would single out Iranian nationals for body searches in front of passengers from other countries.

However, Iran’s national airline, Homa, has not confirmed claims of ill-treatment, saying that it had received no such reports from its Dubai airport office.