IRGC Commander Issues Threat To Those Behind Quran Burnings

Those who burn or desecrate the Quran will not enjoy security, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened Saturday after incidents in Sweden.

Hossein Salami was quoted by media in Tehran as saying that acts of Quran desecration are planned by those who are against Islam and Muslims.

The IRGC commander spoke after a statement by Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei demanded that Western government hand over those responsible for burning Qurans to Muslim countries. He also emphasized that the incidents were a conspiracy and demanded the harshest punishments that in some Islamic countries would be the death penalty.

Two incident involved Salwan Momika, an Iraqi immigrant, who burned the Quran in front of the central mosque in Stockholm on the first day of Eid al-Adha in late June, after obtaining a permit for a demonstration from the Swedish government. He repeated the desecration, this time in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on July 20.

Salami said that the Islamic Republic should take up measures to deter and end such acts, in cooperation with other Muslim countries.

“We will not allow those who insult the Quran to have security. If someone wants to play with our Quran and religion, we will play with all his world,” Salami threatened. He went on to say, “Sooner or later the vengeful hand of “mujaheds” will reach politicians and stage managers behind this sort of crimes, and we will render the highest punishment to the perpetrator.”

In the late 1980s, Iran’s then-ruler Ayatollah Khomeini issued a Fatwa for the killing of British author Salman Rushdie for his book, Satanic Verses, seen by some Muslims as insulting to Prophet Muhammed. Iran also announced a reward for Rushdie’s killing.