Iran: Signing of ‘largest’ petition against Quran desecration as millions gather in Mashhad

According to PressTV, 80 per cent of it had been recently displayed in Iraq’s Karbala during the Arbaeen pilgrimage, while some 250 metres is currently being displayed in Iran’s holy cities of Qom and Mashhad. Millions of pilgrims have been making their way to the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad for the last 10-day period of the Islamic month of Safar to commemorate the martyrdom of the eight Shia Imam Ali bin Musa Al-Rida.
An official in the Razavi Khorosan Province, Hojjat Ganadabi said yesterday that over 4.5 million pilgrims entered Mashhad over the mourning period.
The initiative was launched by the Arbaeen Quranic Camp that issued a statement condemning the spate of Quran burnings in Europe.
Mohammad Mojani, the head of the Quranic committee of Arbaeen Headquarters, was quoted as saying: “Considering the frequent desecration of the sacred area of the Holy Quran in some European countries, we prepared a statement and a petition to condemn this action, which was documented and registered with the signatures and fingerprints of millions of pilgrims.”
Mojani added: “Currently, this petition has been sent to holy Mashhad so that it can be signed by the pilgrims of Imam Reza (AS) in the last 10-day period of Safar.”
“On this basis, we are drafting an international document for the legal pursuit of preventing the desecration of holy books, especially the Holy Qur’an, and sending it to the United Nations,” he added.