Death penalty sought for Saudi officers molesting Iran teens: Official

A Saudi criminal court is seeking the death penalty for the two Saudi officers behind the sexual abuse of two teenage Iranian pilgrims at the Jeddah airport, a senior Iranian official said.

Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Iranian Expatriates Affairs Hassan Ghashghavi made the remarks in an exclusive interview with IRIB on Monday.

“The two criminal police officers were tried at the seventh branch of Jeddah’s Criminal Court this morning,” he added.

According to Ghashghavi, the indictment by Jeddah’s attorney general was read out during the hearing, which was held in the presence of Naser Hamidi Zare, the Iranian consul general in Jeddah.

The two police officers “have been charged with malversation, breach of duty and committing a heinous criminal act,” he stated.

Ghashghavi said that “Jeddah’s attorney general, with reference to religion and law, called for the death penalty” for the two Saudi officers.

The hearing was adjourned to June 10 to hear the defenses of their lawyers, the Iranian official added.

Citing suspicion, Saudi officers reportedly took two Iranian teenagers, aged 14 and 15, away, while performing body search on passengers at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah in April. The teenagers were subjected to indecent acts by the Saudi officers, who had sounded off the alarm at the gate.

Following the incident, Iran summoned the Saudi chargé d’affaires and submitted a note of complaint to the Saudi government.