Iran condemned repeated desecration of Holy Quran in Sweden

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Monitoring: Kana'ani said on Sunday that the Swedish officials’ verbal denunciation and opposition to the sacrilegious acts against the holy Muslim scripture are not enough.

“Unfortunately, we still witness the repetition of desecration of Islamic sanctities in contravention of basic principles of human rights,” he said.

The remarks came one day after Salwan Momika, a Sweden-based Iraqi man, attempted to burn a copy of the Qur’an in the city of Malmo under heavy protection. He had done the blasphemous act for several times in recent months.

 "Such hatred-inducing acts that insult and violate the rights and values of more than two billion Muslims have taken place amid the passive presence of the Swedish police, whose main responsibility is to maintain security and prevent the abuse of people’s rights. Of course, such acts will never be erased from the minds of the world’s freedom-seeking people," Kana'ani added.

Police arrested three people, who were trying to prevent the Qur’an burning in Malmo, and escorted Momika out of the scene by 20 vehicles, including 10 armored ones.

"The Swedish government is expected to respond responsibly to the most obvious demand of Muslims and monotheists, by seriously adhering to fundamental principles of human rights and trying to promote ethics and peaceful coexistence among religions through practical and effective measures," he further said.

In addition to Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands have witnessed similar instances of desecration of the Muslim holy book since the beginning of the year.

The blasphemous gestures, all of whichhave taken place with the go-ahead given by the countries’ respective governments and amid protection provided by their security forces, have opened the floodgates of protest across the Muslim world.

In a relevant development earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kana'ani once again denounced the desecration of the Holy Quran in Europe, and urged the Netherlands to act responsibly and prevent a recurrence of such sacrilegious moves.

Kana'ani said on Wednesday that Amsterdam is expected to understand its "responsibilities" towards "preventing insult against the values and religious sanctities" of the world's more than two-billion-strong Muslim population.

The spokesperson advised the Dutch government to come in the way of "repetition of such reprehensible acts that take place in the name of 'freedom of speech.

His remarks came days after Edwin Wagensveld, the ringleader of the Dutch chapter of the anti-Islam group PEGIDA, tore up a copy of the Muslim's holy book in front of the Turkish, Pakistani and Indonesian Embassies in The Hague and insulted Islam and Muslims. He then thanked the Dutch police for providing him with protection during his perpetration of the heinous gesture.

Since last year, the frequency of insults against Islam and its holy book has been on the rise in Europe. Several European countries have been playing host to such despicable acts on their soils over the past months, drawing far-and-wide condemnation from the world's Muslim countries.

Tehran describes the sacrilegious move as a blatant insult to Islam and Muslims across the world, and calls for criminalizing sacrilegious acts against Islamic values and sanctities in the international community. Iranian officials urge certain European states to adopt effective measures to punish the preparators behind acts of desecration against the Holy Quran, cautioning that some European countries are allowing extremist groups to spread hatred against Islamic values and sanctities.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has stressed that the sacrilegious act show that the arrogant powers’ attacks are aimed at Islam itself.

He urged these European countries to hand the elements behind this heinous crime the severest punishment possible.

“The conspirators behind the scenes should also know that the sanctity and grandeur of the Holy Quran will increase day by day and the lights of its guidance will become brighter," the Leader stated.

Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi also described the permission to insult the Islamic sanctities by some European states as modern ignorance which contradicts the freedom of expression.

"Despite the [European countries'] claim to freedom of expression, the permission issued [by them] for the recent acts of desecration against the Holy Quran exemplifies 'modern ignorance'," Rayeesi stated./Fars news