In Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, many demonstrators took to the streets on Friday to denounce the authorization granted by the Swedish authorities to rallies organized to desecrate the Koran. In the early morning of Saturday, Iraqi security forces had to disperse hundreds of supporters of Moqtada Sadr who were trying to join the ultra-secure Green Zone housing embassies.
The nightly protest was sparked by press reports that appear to point to another desecration of the Koran, this time in Denmark. On its Facebook page, the far-right Danske Patrioter movement posted a video on Friday of a man burning what appears to be a Koran and stomping on an Iraqi flag.
Copenhagen police confirmed that a book was burned outside the Iraqi embassy, but were unable to confirm that it was a Quran.
Swedish diplomats in Iraq repatriated
On Thursday, Sadr supporters attacked at night and burned down the Swedish embassy. These events caused a diplomatic crisis between Sweden and Iraq, which expelled the Swedish ambassador. Swedish diplomacy has announced that it has temporarily repatriated the operations and staff of its embassy in Iraq to Stockholm.
Early Saturday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement “the desecration of the Holy Quran and the Iraqi flag in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Denmark”. “These actions provoke reactions and put all parties in delicate situations,” he warned.
No more Swedish ambassador to Iran either
In Iran, the Minister of Foreign Affairs declared on Friday evening that no Swedish ambassador would be accepted in Tehran until “concrete measures” had not been taken by Sweden to prevent any further desecration of the Koran on its territory.
During an interview on state television, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian indicated that “the term of the Swedish ambassador in Tehran has ended” and that “according to the directives of the president, until the Swedish government takes serious measures regarding the desecration of the Koran, we will not accept the new Swedish ambassador”.
In the other Arab countries, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have summoned the Swedish Chargé d’Affaires to their country. Kuwait announced to him that it was working for the holding of an “urgent meeting” of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the adoption of “concrete measures guaranteeing that such acts do not happen again”.