DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran’s judiciary on Tuesday denounced the arrest of an Iranian cleric in Saudi Arabia who shared a video criticising the kingdom’s recent policies to ease many social restrictions in its bid to open the economy for tourism and Western businesses.
Gholamreza Qassemian, who is in the kingdom for hajj – an annual pilgrimage that millions of Muslims make to Mecca with the intention of performing religious rites – was arrested on Monday after posting a video online in which he heavily criticised Saudi Arabia for what he called enabling moral corruption.
His remarks came after media reports – denied by a Saudi official on Monday – that Riyadh was planning to lift a 73-year-old ban on alcohol, which is prohibited for devout Muslims.
Iran’s judiciary said Qassemian’s arrest was “unjustified and illegal.”
The Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
In his video, the mid-ranking cleric said: “People will now be able to go to Mecca and Medina for casinos, brothels, and vulgar concerts instead of going to Antalya,” a reference to the Turkish tourist destination, which is popular for Iranians.
Some Muslims see the idea of any easing of the alcohol ban in the kingdom – which is the birthplace of Islam and home to its two holiest mosques, in Mecca and Medina – as highly controversial.
Many fundamentalist Muslims also disapprove of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reforms. Those have included lifting a ban on women driving, the hosting of a film festival in Jeddah, which neighbours Mecca, as well as global sports events like Formula One motor racing.
Iran, a conservative Shi’ite Muslim country, rebuilt ties with Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia in 2023 after years of regional rivalry.
While some Iranian users of social media platform X celebrated Qassemian for his “courage”, others berated him for what they said were insulting comments that risked reversing the thaw.
State media reported that Iran’s Consulate General in Jeddah was following up on the issue to secure Qassemian’s release and had met him twice since his arrest.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X that Iran condemned “any attempt to harm Muslim unity, particularly in the spiritual atmosphere of the Hajj.”
“We are determined to not allow anyone to sabotage relations with our brotherly neighbours, including the progressive path of Iran and Saudi Arabia.”
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; editing by Aidan Lewis)
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