Holding hands with a good friend in public is common place in the Arab World. They can even kiss each other on the cheek, too! And it isn't considered gay at all. It's just a cultural thing.
There's even gay bars in the Arab world and nobody ever dies in them.
He's Iranian, not Arab. The funny thing about Iran is that it has a perception of being very homophobic, but, it really is a gay man's paradise.