A prominent lawmaker called for Iranians to boycott some pilgrimages to Mecca in protest at what he called Saudi support for the suppression of demonstrations in Bahrain, the official IRNA news agency said.

As tensions mount between the Gulf's two most powerful countries, Mohammad-Taqi Rahbar, leader of the clerical faction in parliament, said Iranian clergy should discourage "umrah" pilgrimages, which Muslims are encouraged but not obliged to perform.

All Muslims are meant to visit Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Mohammad, at least once in their lives on a "haj" pilgrimage. The umrah, sometimes called the 'lesser pilgrimage', can be performed by individuals at any time of the year and is not compulsory, Reuters reported.

"Iranians go on umrah pilgrimage while the massacre of Muslims, the destruction of mosques and the burning of the Koran are done in Bahrain by Saudi military forces. The money that Iranian Muslims spend on the umrah is used to buy weapons to massacre Bahraini Muslims," Rahbar was quoted as saying.