Iran not to send new envoy to Sweden due to Quran desecration
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Although administrative procedures for a new ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Sweden have been completed and an ambassador was assigned, the procedure is currently put on hold.
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Salwan Momika holds a Quran as he protests outside a mosque in Stockholm on June 28, 2023 (AFP)
According to a source, Fars News Agency reported that the Iranian foreign ministry does not intend to send its new envoy to Stockholm although administrative procedures for a new ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Sweden have been completed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian confirmed the news on Sunday in a Twitter post adding that it is due to the desecration of the Holy Quran in the Scandinavian country.
Hojatollah Foghani was appointed as the new ambassador of Iran to Sweden although the procedure does not seem that it will go through.
Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden's charge d'affaires in Tehran this week to express its objection to the burning of the Holy Quran in the European country, approved by Stockholm under the guise of "freedom of speech".
On Wednesday, a man named Salwan Momika, 37, burned a copy of the Muslim Holy book outside the Stockholm Central Mosque. He was granted a permit from Swedish authorities prior to carrying out his act.
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Two weeks earlier, a Swedish appeals court rejected the police's decision to deny permits for those who wanted to wage protests involving the burning of the Quran.
Momika's desecration of the Quran was made to coincide with the Muslim festivity of Eid al-Adha, which commemorates the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage and is celebrated by hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world.
The European Union condemned Saturday the Quran burning that took place in Sweden, urging for the avoidance of escalation and underlining that in the eyes of the bloc, the burning of any holy book is a "provocation". The condemnation came in a statement issued by the European External Action Service (EEAS).
