Iran summons Sweden’s envoy over desecration of Quran
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The Iranian Foreign Ministry urges Sweden to take immediate and unequivocal action to put an end to the desecration of the Holy Quran.
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The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran
The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden's chargé d'affaires to express Tehran’s outrage at the desecration of the Holy Quran by a Swedish far-right group during the holy month of Ramadan.
The Swedish envoy was summoned, on Sunday, by the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Third Western Europe Bureau, who expressed Iran's strong dissent at the sacrilege of Islam's holy book by the leader of a far-right group while under the protection of Swedish police and under the guise of freedom of expression.
Rasmus Paludan, the Danish leader of Sweden's far-right Stram Kurs party, burned a copy of the Quran in a Muslim neighborhood.
Danish politician Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Quran in Linkping, Sweden, which has a large Muslim population.
— GBN (@GBNfeed) April 15, 2022
A riot quickly broke out in a nearby neighbourhood. pic.twitter.com/CLAtmRREVR
Stram Kurs, or Hard Line, was founded in 2017 by Paludan, a Danish lawyer with Swedish citizenship. It promotes an anti-Islam and anti-immigration view.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry also urged Sweden to take immediate and unequivocal action to put an end to the desecration of the Holy Quran and ensure that such acts do not occur again in the future.
“This regrettable incident, which was carried out under the protection of the Swedish police has marred the image of Sweden among Muslims of the world,” the Iranian official added.
On his account, the Swedish diplomat expressed regret over the incident and promised to inform his country's officials of Iran's protest as soon as possible.
Sweden witnessed consecutive nights of unrest after far-right anti-Islam rally. Since Thursday, confrontations have been reported in Stockholm, Linkoping, and Norrkoping - all places where Stram Kurs has planned or had rallies.
Paludan, the far-right leader, has frequently been at the center of incidents in recent years. He was arrested and deported from France in November 2020. Soon after, five other activists were arrested in Belgium on suspicion of "spreading hatred" by burning a Quran in Brussels.
