Iran International:

A senior Iranian cleric affiliated with the office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was arrested in Saudi Arabia during the annual Hajj pilgrimage after publishing a video critical of the kingdom’s religious and cultural policies, Iranian state media reported on Monday.

Gholamreza Ghasemian, a conservative religious scholar and head of Iran’s parliamentary library and documentation center, was detained in the city of Medina while performing Hajj rituals, the reports said.

On Tuesday, Iran’s judiciary spokesman said the arrest of Gholamreza Ghasemian in Saudi Arabia was “unjustified and unlawful,” adding that the Foreign Ministry would follow up on the case.

Saudi authorities have not commented publicly on the matter.

In a video posted before his arrest, Ghasemian criticized Saudi Arabia, accusing it of transforming the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina into destinations for entertainment and commercialization.

“There’s no longer any need to go to Antalya for casinos, centers of debauchery, and obscene concerts – you can now come to Mecca and Medina instead,” he said.

He also described conditions for pilgrims as highly restrictive, alleging that Saudi authorities prevent worshippers from engaging deeply with Islamic teachings during Hajj.

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