PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has come under fire from the International Union of Islamic Scholars, in which he is the vice-president.

In a statement issued in Arabic, the union condemned Hadi for attending an international conference in Teheran last Saturday, where Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khameinei delivered the closing speech.

"The International Union of Islamic Scholars is puzzled by the timing of the visit, at a time when Iran is brutally killing our brethren, particularly in Aleppo and Syria as a whole.

"The union also condemns the unsanctioned visit by one of our leaders and it does not represent anyone but the individual himself.

"The union also awaits Hadi's explanation over his visit, for which time and place were not endorsed," it said in a Facebook post.

The statement was released in the names of the union's president Yusuf al-Qaradawi and general-secretary Ali Muhiuddin al-Qurra Daghi.

The statement was reproduced by Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, together with a Malay language translation.