Iran says will not accept new Swedish envoy in Qur’an row
Iran announced late Friday that it will not allow a new Swedish ambassador into the country amid a row over Stockholm permitting protests in which the Qur’an was desecrated.
“The Swedish ambassador’s term in Tehran has ended and, according to the president’s order, until the Swedish government takes a serious action over the desecration of the Holy Qur’an, we will not accept the new Swedish ambassador,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told state television.
“The Iranian ambassador will not be sent to Sweden,” he added.
His announcement came after an evening protest in the capital Tehran that saw hundreds of demonstrators gather outside the Swedish embassy.
The protest became a sit-in, with the crowd throwing eggs and tomatoes at the building and vowing to stay put until the Swedish ambassador is expelled from Iran, before later dispersing.
Earlier, protesters gathered after Friday prayers, waving Iranian flags and carrying copies of Islam’s holy book.
“Down with the United States, Britain, Israel and Sweden,” protesters chanted, as some in Tehran burned the Swedish flag.
Similar demonstrations were held in other major Iranian cities including Tabriz in the northwest, Mashhad in the northeast and Isfahan in the center of the country.
The rallies came amid heightened tensions between Stockholm and Muslim countries over a Sweden-based Iraqi refugee who last month burnt pages of the Qur’an outside Stockholm’s main mosque.
In the latest such incident on Thursday, the refugee, Salwan Momika, stepped on the Qur’an but did not burn it. His act triggered renewed condemnation across the Muslim world.
Iran had already summoned the Swedish ambassador on Thursday to protest against Stockholm allowing Momika’s actions on free speech grounds.
Amir-Abdollahian spoke to his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom by phone on Friday.
“The person who committed this unforgivable insult must be arrested, tried, and held accountable for his actions,” a foreign ministry statement quoted him as saying.
Baghdad assures foreign diplomatic missions
In Iraq, the government sought to reassure diplomatic missions in the country of their security on Saturday, saying it would not allow a recurrence of the storming of the Swedish embassy.
The statement from the Foreign Ministry came a day after hundreds of protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, setting it on fire in protest against plans to burn a copy of the Qur’an in Stockholm. Iraq also expelled the Swedish ambassador.
“The Iraqi government is fully committed to the Vienna Convention that regulates diplomatic relations among countries and assures all resident diplomatic missions of their security and protection,” the ministry said.
“What happened to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Baghdad cannot be repeated, and any similar act will be subject to legal accountability,” it added.