Top Iranian diplomat calls on Denmark to prevent repetition of sacrilegious acts

Iran’s foreign minister has called on Denmark to take effective measures to punish those behind recent acts of desecration against the Muslim holy book in the country and to prevent a repetition of such blasphemous moves.

Over the past month, the Holy Qur’an has been subject to acts of desecration by extremist elements in separate incidents in Sweden and Denmark, which were perpetrated under the aegis of those countries' governments.

The sacrilegious moves have drawn the ire of the whole Muslim world, prompting the summoning or expulsion of Swedish and Danish envoys from several Muslim countries.

Speaking in a phone conversation with his Danish counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday the recent insults have hurt the feelings of Muslims and followers of other Abrahamic religions, and therefore need to be stopped.

“Freedom of expression is not a concept that can be used [to justify] targeting and attacking religious values,” the Iranian foreign minister said, noting the repetition of such “reprehensible and insulting actions,” which are reminiscent of the time before the advent of Islam are “condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

“As to the repetition of the abhorrent phenomenon of insulting the Holy Qur’an… the Danish government is seriously expected to prevent the recurrence of such acts through responsible actions and effective measures and to hold the perpetrators accountable with the harshest punishment,” he said.

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Lars Looke Rasmussen, the Danish diplomat, expressed regret over the insult and said Denmark strongly condemns any desecration of the Qur’an.

He described freedom of expression and religion, and peaceful demonstrations as the main pillars of the Danish constitution, but expressed regret that some people abuse it, “which we consider unacceptable.”

“These few individuals should not be considered representatives of the Danish people,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.

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