The Saudi authorities released the Iranian spiritual Gholamrez Ghasemian, who criticized the commercialization of holy cities.
On Thursday, the Saudi authorities released the Iranian spiritual Gholamrez Ghasemian, who criticized the local government before the start of the Hadj pilgrimage. Ghasemian is considered a close collaborator of Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni. TASR informs about this on the basis of an AFP report referring to the Iranian news agency Irna.
“Ghasemian was released after he met Iranian officials and is on his way to the homeland,” Irna wrote. Tehran described his detention as illegal, and in Wednesday informed that Iranian consular workers met Ghasemian.
Detention for video
The clergy arrested on Monday for video spread on the Internet. It criticizes the Saudi government that the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina, in his words, transforms into commercial places. He described the conditions for pilgrims as restrictive and also claimed that the Saudi Arabian authorities were preventing believers to deal with Islamic teachings deeper during religious pilgrimage.
The annual pilgrimage of Hajž to Saudi Arabian Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam and every Muslim should complete it once in a lifetime. This year will take place from 4 to 9 June.
Time of recovery of relationships
Iran International recalls that Ghasemian’s detachment occurred at the time of the gradual renewal of relations between Riyadh and Tehran, which restored each other’s diplomatic relations in 2023 after six years.
