Iran Summons Swedish, Danish Envoys Over Quran Burning

Iran's foreign ministry has summoned the Swedish and Danish charges d'affaires in Tehran to protest the burning and damaging of copies of the Quran in the two countries.

Anti-Islam activists in Denmark and Sweden have burned or damaged several copies of the Muslim holy book in recent months, prompting outrage in the Muslim world and demands that the Nordic governments ban such acts.

Governments in both countries have condemned the burnings and said they are considering new laws aimed at preventing such acts.

"Iran lays the full responsibility and the serious repercussions of the Holy Quran's desecration on the Swedish and Danish governments," state media cited the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's human rights department as saying.

The Iranian government has strongly condemned the desecrations and officials have threatened the perpetrators with severe punishment.

Earlier in August, an Iranian born artist shredded a copy the Quran outside the Iranian embassy in the Danish capital Copenhagen

Two other 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.

(With reporting by Reuters)