The desecration of the Qur’an in Sweden has sparked strong reactions from Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, Iranian Majlis (Parliament) speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Iranian citizens. President Raeisi addressed the incident during a Friday prayer event in Rafsanjan, emphasizing that insulting the Qur’an is an insult to all divine religions, humanity, and the core values of Islamic society. He condemned those who carried out the act and accused them of hypocritically using freedom of expression as a cover to impose their despotism on humanity.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Nasser Kan’ani, strongly denounced the Swedish government’s authorization of the sinful act, emphasizing that such acts of disrespect had also occurred in the past. Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf criticized the Swedish government and police for allowing the desecration of the Qur’an under the false pretext of freedom of expression. He stated that Muslims worldwide would respond appropriately to such insults to their sanctity.
Hojjat-ul-Islam and Muslims Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, the interim Friday imam of Tehran, condemned the crimes of the United States and the Quran burning incident in Europe. He said that this week had been named the “week of disclosure of American human rights” to highlight the many crimes committed by the United States throughout history. He specifically mentioned the June 28-29, 1987 Iraqi chemical attack of Sardasht (West Azarbaijan province), the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 from Tehran to Dubai in 1984 that was shot down on 3 July 1988 by two SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles fired by the USS Vincennes, and the 7th (Hafte)Tir explosion at the headquarters of the Islamic Republican Party (IRP) in Tehran, while a meeting of party leaders was in progress.
In this regard, Haj Ali Akbari also criticized Sweden for green-lighting desecration of the Holy Qur’an adding that this act was “ugly, anti-cultural, and anti-human” and that it had insulted the two billion Muslims around the world and urged Islamic governments to take a strong stance against the Quran burning incident. He also pointed out that the “Swedish government does not do anything on its own, and what happened was done at the instigation of Zionists and Americans, adding that “We are witnessing the decline of American imperialism, and God willing, we will witness a world without America and Zionism.”
In Tehran, Iran, thousands gathered in front of the Swedish embassy to protest an Iraqi refugee’s burning of a Quran in Sweden. The protesters, which included university students, burned Swedish flags and carried placards with slogans such as “Death to those who burn the Quran” and “Sweden is a haven for terrorists.” They also chanted slogans against the Swedish government and the Swedish people.
The Quran-burning incident has sparked protests in other Muslim-majority countries as well. In Baghdad, a crowd of dozens of people forcefully entered the premises of the Swedish embassy. In Pakistan, hundreds of people protested outside the Swedish embassy in Islamabad. In Bangladesh, thousands of people took to the streets in Dhaka. And in Indonesia, protesters burned Swedish flags and effigies of the Swedish prime minister.
The Quran burning incident has also been condemned by Muslim leaders worldwide. The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia called it a “heinous crime, ” and the Turkish president said it was an “insult to all Muslims.
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