TEHRAN (ISNA)- Iran has officially suspended Umrah Hajj pilgrimage, said Iranian Minister of Culture Ali Jannati.

“The Organization of Hajj was ordered to temporarily suspend Umrah Hajj pilgrimage until the two criminals are tried and prosecuted,” he said.

”The public dignity of Iranian nation has been damaged given what has happened. A public demand has been formed and a reaction is needed.”

He also said that Iran has pursued the issue diplomatically and Saudi officials had promised to prosecute the two arrested culprits.

Saudi officials have said that they would hang these people, but nothing has happened yet, he said.

Saudi officers sexually harassed two Iranian teenage pilgrims at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah two weeks ago, prompting Tehran to submit a note of complaint to the Saudi government, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marziyeh Afkham.

She said on Wednesday that the Foreign Ministry has also summoned the Saudi chargé d’affaires to ask Riyadh to expedite the measures taken in the process of punishing the accused.

On Saturday, a group of Iranians gathered in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran in protest over the indecency, chanting anti-Saudi slogans and calling for closure of the embassy as well as cancellation of Umrah Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

By ISNA