{"id":332103,"date":"2025-05-27T21:32:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T20:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=332103"},"modified":"2025-05-27T21:34:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T20:34:18","slug":"iran-news-arrest-of-iranian-cleric-in-saudi-arabia-highlights-hypocrisy-and-fragility-of-tehrans-regional-posture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/terrorism-a-fundamentalism\/iran-news-arrest-of-iranian-cleric-in-saudi-arabia-highlights-hypocrisy-and-fragility-of-tehrans-regional-posture\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran News: Arrest of Cleric in Saudi Arabia Highlights Hypocrisy and Fragility of Tehran\u2019s Regional Posture"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_332104\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-332104\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-332104\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Iran-Gholamreza-Ghasemian.jpg\" alt=\"Gholamreza Ghasemian, an Iranian cleric close to Khamenei\u2019s office\" width=\"1000\" height=\"581\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Iran-Gholamreza-Ghasemian.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Iran-Gholamreza-Ghasemian-300x174.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Iran-Gholamreza-Ghasemian-768x446.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Iran-Gholamreza-Ghasemian-723x420.jpg 723w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Iran-Gholamreza-Ghasemian-150x87.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Iran-Gholamreza-Ghasemian-696x404.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-332104\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gholamreza Ghasemian, an Iranian cleric close to Khamenei\u2019s office<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"145\" data-end=\"452\">The arrest of Gholamreza Ghasemian\u2014an influential Iranian cleric with ties to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei\u2019s inner circle\u2014by Saudi authorities during the Hajj pilgrimage has exposed not only the regime\u2019s long-standing double standards, but also the fragility of its recent diplomatic overtures toward Riyadh.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"454\" data-end=\"832\">According to multiple <a href=\"https:\/\/www.khabaronline.ir\/news\/2069731\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Iranian state media reports<\/a>, Ghasemian was detained while performing Hajj after a video circulated online in which he harshly criticized the Saudi government. In the clip, he compared Mecca and Medina to sites of immorality, accused the Kingdom of reverting to &#8220;Umayyad factory settings,&#8221; and warned pilgrims not to be deceived by what he called superficial diplomacy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"834\" data-end=\"984\">Though no official reason has been given by Riyadh, speculation is widespread that the cleric&#8217;s arrest was directly linked to this inflammatory video.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"986\" data-end=\"1448\">Ghasemian is no ordinary cleric. Once known as the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rouydad24.ir\/fa\/news\/348304\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nightingale of Ghalibaf<\/a>\u201d for his religious singing, including before the regime&#8217;s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he was a prominent figure in regime media and a vocal advocate of hardline social policies such as polygamy. He was also involved in controversial social programs that allegedly worked with sex workers under state-backed religious frameworks\u2014an irony that did not go unnoticed after his moralistic attack on Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a> News: <br \/>Saudi Arabia Expels Iranian Media Team Following <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Khamenei?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Khamenei<\/a>\u2019s Threats<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SuYnBpeQ7i\">https:\/\/t.co\/SuYnBpeQ7i<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1795755722539782362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 29, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1450\" data-end=\"1853\">Perhaps most significantly, Ghasemian was present at rallies that escalated into the 2011 and 2016 attacks on the British and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tabnak.ir\/fa\/news\/1307866\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Saudi embassies<\/a> in Tehran\u2014incidents that severely damaged the regime&#8217;s ties with both countries. Now, with relations only recently restored under a China-brokered agreement in 2023, his arrest threatens to unravel the thin thread of diplomacy that the regime is struggling to maintain.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1855\" data-end=\"2181\">Yet Tehran&#8217;s reaction has been surprisingly deferential. Judiciary spokesman <a href=\"https:\/\/fararu.com\/fa\/news\/869303\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Asghar Jahangir described<\/a> the arrest as \u201cunjustified and illegal,\u201d while Abdul-Fattah Navab, Khamenei\u2019s representative in Hajj affairs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.didarnews.ir\/fa\/news\/184911\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">downplayed Ghasemian\u2019s remarks<\/a> as \u201cpersonal opinion\u201d and appealed for his release in the name of Quranic service.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2183\" data-end=\"2517\">Most revealing, however, was <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/araghchi\/status\/1927380617143951369\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a statement<\/a> by the regime&#8217;s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who praised Saudi Arabia\u2019s handling of Hajj and emphasized Iran\u2019s commitment to preserving \u201cbrotherly relations.\u201d His remarks, entirely devoid of protest, underscored Tehran\u2019s reluctance to jeopardize a rapprochement it can ill afford to lose.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Fearing Strategic Defeat, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a>\u2019s Regime Threatens with More Terror against <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Hajj?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Hajj<\/a> Pilgrimage<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1OeIKr5Dl7\">https:\/\/t.co\/1OeIKr5Dl7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1788225847133958583?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2183\" data-end=\"2517\">This incident is not without precedent. In May 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/anews\/iran-news-saudi-arabia-expels-iranian-media-team-following-khameneis-threats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Saudi authorities expelled<\/a> a group of Iranian media operatives linked to Khamenei\u2019s office for unauthorized filming in Medina\u2014an act widely viewed as part of Tehran\u2019s pattern of using religious pilgrimages for political messaging or covert activity. The expulsion came shortly after the Supreme Leader labeled this year\u2019s Hajj a \u201cHajj of repudiation,\u201d echoing rhetoric reminiscent of the 1987 Mecca clashes that left hundreds dead.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2519\" data-end=\"2952\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">The recent episode reveals a familiar contradiction: a regime that routinely provokes regional unrest through aggressive posturing now finds itself silencing its own voices to protect delicate foreign ties. If diplomatic relations with Riyadh are strained by this incident\u2014as some observers warn\u2014the regime will have only itself to blame, caught once again between its confrontational legacy and its desperate need for pretending regional legitimacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The arrest of Gholamreza Ghasemian&mdash;an influential Iranian cleric with ties to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei&rsquo;s inner circle&mdash;by Saudi authorities during the Hajj pilgrimage has exposed not only the regime&rsquo;s long-standing [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":332104,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[287],"class_list":{"0":"post-332103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-terrorism-a-fundamentalism","8":"tag-iran-terrorism"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is 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