Iran calls for emergency OIC meeting over desecration of Qur’an

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke on the phone with Hissein Ibrahim Taha, the OIC secretary general, late on Friday to discuss the heinous act, the second of such kind in less than a month.

He proposed that an urgent ministerial meeting of the OIC be held at the earliest time possible for exchanges of views on the issue.

“If the Swedish government does not take an effective action immediately, Islamic countries should give a firm, united response to Sweden over the desecration of the divine scripture, the Holy Qur’an,” he added.

Ibrahim Taha, for his part, condemned the sacrilegious move and offered a report on the contacts made and the measures taken following the incident.

He also vowed to put a ministerial OIC meeting on the agenda in consultation with the member states.

The two sides stressed the need for Muslim countries to take a firm action in order to prevent a repetition of such insults.

On Thursday, Salwan Momika, a Sweden-based Iraqi refugee, desecrated the Muslim holy book during a demonstration outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm amid strict protection provided by the Swedish police.

This was the second time Momika was disrespecting the holy book amid the approval of Sweden’s authorities. He set a copy of the Qur’an on fire on June 28, prompting similar raging protests across the Muslim world.

The appalling act opened the floodgates of protest across the world’s Muslim community, with the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoning the Swedish ambassador to Tehran and conveying the Islamic Republic’s vehement condemnation of the heinous act.

Amir-Abdollahian announced earlier on Friday that Iran will not accept a new Swedish ambassador following the desecration of the Holy Qur’an in the Nordic country.

The top Iranian diplomat said the Swedish ambassador’s mission in Tehran had terminated, and that according to the presidential order, Iran would not receive a new Swedish ambassador, nor would dispatch a new ambassador to Stockholm.

Amir-Abdollahian also said Stockholm must take serious and effective action to deal with the person responsible for the desecration.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government also ordered the Swedish ambassador to leave and decided to withdraw its envoy from Stockholm for permitting the desecration of the Holy Qur’an.

Hundreds of Iraqi protesters also stormed the Swedish embassy in the capital Baghdad and set part of it on fire in protest against the repeated desecration of the Holy Qur’an.

The foreign ministry of the United Arab Emirates called in Sweden’s chargé d’affaires in Abu Dhabi and conveyed its strong objection to the sacrilegious move.

It handed the envoy an official note of protest against the repeated attacks and abuses on copies of the Holy Qur’an in Sweden, and strongly condemned the decision of the Swedish government to continue to allow such acts to occur.

“Sweden has disregarded its international responsibilities and demonstrated a lack of respect for social values in this regard,” the Emirati foreign ministry said.

The ministry underscored the importance of monitoring hate speech and expressions of racism that negatively impact peace and security, rejecting the use of freedom of expression as justification for such heinous acts.

The ministry also stressed the UAE’s rejection of all practices aimed at undermining security and stability in contravention of human values and principles. Abu Dhabi also reaffirmed that hate speech and extremism contradict international efforts to spread the values of tolerance, coexistence and peace between people.

The Egyptian foreign ministry also said in a statement that the countries’ governments must fulfill their responsibility to deal with these crimes, prevent their repetition, and punish the perpetrators.

“Egypt’s foreign ministry strongly condemns the action of the Swedish authorities in granting permission to an extremist person to repeat the insult to the Holy Qur’an,” the statement added.