Iran Summons Swedish Ambassador Over Quran Burning Incident
Iran summoned the Swedish ambassador in response to an incident involving the desecration of the Quran in Sweden on June 28 and on Thursday.
Iran summoned the Swedish ambassador in response to an incident involving the desecration of the Quran in Sweden on June 28 and on Thursday.
The summoning took place on Thursday evening, as a protest against the repeated acts of Quran burning in the European nation.
Nasser Kanani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, personally summoned the Swedish ambassador and conveyed "the strong protest of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
"We strongly condemn the repeated desecration of the Holy Quran and Islamic holy things in Sweden, and we hold the Swedish government fully responsible for the consequences of inciting the feelings of Muslims around the world," said Kanani.
The incident involved Salwan Momika, an Iraqi immigrant, who burned the Quran in front of the central mosque in Stockholm on the first day of Eid al-Adha, after obtaining a permit from the Swedish government. He repeated the act once again, this time in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm.
Kanani urged the Swedish government “to fulfill its international responsibilities in preventing the recurrence of such actions”, emphasizing that they were "regrettable," "in violation of human rights," and "contrary to religious and human values."
Following the incident, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group, called on all Arab and Muslim countries to expel the Swedish ambassadors from their respective nations and recall their own ambassadors from Sweden, echoing the actions taken by the Iraqi government.
The tensions escalated further when hundreds of supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical Iraqi Shia cleric, attacked the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in the early hours of Thursday, setting it on fire.
