By Uzair Adam Imam
Saudi Arabia, often described as the Middle East powerhouse, and Iran have summoned Swedish diplomats to denounce the Stockholm’s permission for protests that meant to desecrate Qur’an, the Muslims holy book, on free speech grounds.
The calls by the two majority-Muslim countries, which came separately, were in statements made available late Thursday.
This is coming amid heightened tensions between Sweden and Iraq over a Sweden-based Iraqi refugee, who last month burnt pages of Qur’an outside Stockholm’s main mosque.
The Daily Reality learned that, in the latest such incident on Thursday, the refugee, Salwan Momika, stepped on the Qur’an but did not burn it.
Monika’s action was considered to be the reason that triggered the renewed condemnations and calls for protest across the Muslim world.
According to a foreign ministry statement, Saudi Arabia, it would hand the Swedish charge d’affaires “a protest note that includes the kingdom’s request to the Swedish authorities to take all immediate and necessary measures to stop these disgraceful acts”
Nasser Kanani, the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, said Sweden’s ambassador to Tehran had been called in to censure the permit granted to Momika’s protest and to warn Stockholm of the consequences of such actions.
“We strongly condemn the repeated desecration of the holy Koran and Islamic sanctities in Sweden and hold the Swedish government fully responsible for the consequences of inciting the feelings of Muslims around the world,” Kanani said.