Iran Raps Burning Of Quran In Sweden

Two men publicly burned the Quran outside Stockholm's central mosque on Wednesday, an act approved by a Swedish court.

It was deliberately timed to coincide with the significant Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha, further magnifying the incident's significance.

Urging the European country to take responsibility and address the issue seriously, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said: “Creating a platform for the repetition of sacrilege against celestial sanctities, especially during the sacred days of the Islamic world and the gathering of millions of Muslims at the world congress of hajj, is a provocative, unacceptable act.

“Insulting heavenly scriptures is a manifestation of violence, hatred, and contrary to the fundamental values of human rights," disregarding the regime's systematic oppression of women and minorities under its own jurisdiction and its generally appalling human rights record.

Some 200 onlookers witnessed one of the two protesters tearing up pages of a copy of the Koran and wiping his shoes with it before putting bacon in it and setting the book on fire, while the other spoke into a megaphone.

Some of those present shouted "God is Great" in Arabic to protest against the burning, and one man was detained by police after he attempted to throw a rock.

Meanwhile, Morocco recalled its ambassador to Sweden late Wednesday to protest the desecration.

Turkey’s foreign minister also criticized the move saying it is “unacceptable to allow anti-Islam protests in the name of freedom of expression”.

Burning religious texts is "disrespectful and hurtful", the deputy spokesperson for the US State Department told reporters in a daily briefing as well. "What might be legal is certainly not necessarily appropriate," Vedant Patel said.