Iran embassy condemns 3rd desecration of Qur’an in Sweden

The Iranian embassy in Sweden has denounced the third desecration of the Holy Qur’an in the Scandinavian country in recent weeks, expressing dismay at Stockholm’s inaction in this regard.

“Another Qur’an burning in Sweden. This time, [it was] in front of the country’s legislature. Two billion Muslims and all of the freedom-seeking people of the world once again witnessed the desecration of the Holy Qur’an with tears in their eyes,” the diplomatic mission wrote in a post on X, formerly called Twitter, on Monday.

“What is more surprising is that the Swedish government officials say they can do nothing because of the necessity of protecting freedom of expression.”

On Monday, two men, Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem, stomped on Islam’s holy book and set its pages ablaze before slamming it shut outside the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm.

They did the same sacrilegious act outside Stockholm’s central mosque in June, coinciding with the start of the Muslim Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) at the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The duo also staged a similar protest outside Iraq’s embassy in Stockholm on July 20, where they trampled on the Qur’an but did not burn it.

The blasphemous acts, which had been authorized by the Swedish police under the pretext of free-speech laws, sparked a wave of anger and condemnations across the Muslim world.

Additionally on Monday, the far-right Danish group Danske Patrioter burned a copy of the Qur’an outside the Saudi embassy in Copenhagen. It had already set the holy scripture alight in front of the missions of several Muslim countries in the Danish capital.

The foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened an emergency virtual meeting to address the desecration of the Qur’an in both Sweden and Denmark.

In a statement released after the session, the 57-nation body called upon member states to take appropriate action, whether political or economic, in the countries where the Muslim holy book is being desecrated.

The OIC “condemns all attempts to denigrate the sanctity of al-Mus’haf ash-Sharif (the Holy Qur’an) as well as other sacred books, values and symbols of Islam and other religions under the garb of freedom of expression, which is contrary to the spirit of Articles (19) and (20) of the ICCPR and calls upon the international community to unanimously stand against those provocative attempts,” the statement read.

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