JEDDAH: Two airport security workers have been jailed for four years each and will be lashed 1,000 times for sexually harassing two teenage Iranian boys, a report said on Wednesday. Sabq.org electronic newspaper said a criminal court in Jeddah issued the verdict.

Authorities in April began legal proceedings against two police officers at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah after allegations of "sexual harassment" against the two pilgrims.

Iranian media reported that the incident occurred as the youth prepared to return home after Umrah late March.

The Interior Ministry had vowed that the Kingdom’s Shariah system would “ensure the strictest penalties for perpetrators of these type of crimes...”