Saudi airport officials sentenced to 1,000 lashes and jail for sexually harassing Iranian boys

Two Saudi airport workers have been jailed for four years each and will be given 1,000 lashes after being found guilty of harassing two Iranian boys, Saudi media reported.

Authorities in April began investigating allegations that two police officers had sexually harassed two pilgrims at Jeddah Airport.

An official told AP that the criminal court in Jeddah handed down the ruling on Wednesday.

The two boys were returning home from a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in March, reported Iranian media, and the incident prompted Iran's foreign ministry to announce that the country had suspended pilgrimages to Saudi's sacred sites by its citizens until the offenders had been caught.

The ministry alleged that the officials had separated the boys, aged 14 and 15, from their fellow passengers for "body searches".

About 500,000 Iranian's make pilgrimages to Saudi holy sites annually, and Saudi Arabia's justice ministry said it would "ensure the strictest penalties for perpetrators of these type of crimes, which are condemned by all sectors of Saudi Muslim society".

The decision comes amid worsening relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with air strikes from a Saudi-led coalition targeting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.