Iran Declines To Send Envoy To Sweden Over Burning Of Quran

Iranian state media quoted an informed source as saying that the Islamic Republic currently has no plans to send a new ambassador to Sweden.

The state-run IRNA news agency reported Sunday that the decision was made after the burning of the Quran by a man in the European country.

This comes as local media earlier reported the administrative procedures for sending the new ambassador are completed. They also published a picture of the new ambassador Hojatollah Faghani and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Faghani previously worked in the embassies of the Islamic Republic in Tbilisi and Brussels and was also the ambassador to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

Two men publicly burned the Quran outside Stockholm's central mosque on Wednesday, an act approved by a Swedish court.

It was deliberately timed to coincide with the significant Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha, further magnifying the incident's significance.

The act led to protest rallies in several Muslim countries, with Iraqis holding a large demonstration outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.

Iran’s foreign ministry also summoned Sweden’s charge d’affaires in Tehran.

Several Muslim nations as well as the European Union condemned the latest incident of desecration of the Quran on Saturday.

“Manifestations of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance have no place in Europe,” Nabila Massrali, the EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, expressed in a statement.

“The EU joins the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its strong rejection of the burning of a [copy of the Holy] Quran by an individual in Sweden. This act in no way reflects the opinions of the European Union.”