TEHRAN - The past month has been an eventful and appalling time for millions of Muslims around the globe. The Islamic world was shaken on a Wednesday morning in June when an Iraqi man living in Sweden was granted permission by the government to insult the religious beliefs of 1.8 billion people.

The man desecrated the holy Quran by tearing, kicking and burning it. The move sparked anger in Muslim countries all over the world as the Swedish government had decided to turn a blind eye to such hateful and provocative act for the second time. 

Some politicians in Sweden have defended the sacrilegious acts of burning holy books calling them part of “freedom of speech”. Though the Swedish government ended up somewhat apologizing for the act, the initial reaction towards Muslims’ anticipated anger was quite demeaning. “If you don’t think there should be freedom of expression, you have to live somewhere else,” said a far-right Swedish politician while attacking Islam and immigrants. 

The reason why Western governments allow Quran burning under freedom of speech but would prevent and jail someone wanting to burn an LGBT flag is quite evident. Europe has not yet decoupled from its imperialistic past. Western European authorities want their people to believe that immigrants are to blame for their countries’ ailing economy and broken security. Portraying Muslims as a group of uncivilized, outraged, and untamed citizens may justify injustice against Muslim nations. What Europeans were not expecting this time was a third party’s heavy involvement in the hateful acts conducted against Muslims.

Who else benefits from Quran burning?

A few days after the latest Quran desecration incident, Iran’s intelligence linked the Iraqi-Swedish man to the Israeli regime’s Mossad spy agency. “This is a common tactic of the Zionists, who accompany every massacre and act of destruction with another criminal project to deviate attention from their demonic operations,” the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said in a statement. 

But what could Israel gain from Quran burning? The Israeli regime has started a Quran burning campaign, hoping that Muslims would also take similar steps and retaliate by burning other holy books. Islamic nations did decry the act but their condemnations have so far been peaceful. That’s when the regime decided to move ahead with the second part of its plan. An Iranian man whose identity was revealed on Israeli media proceeded to burn the Bible and Torah in Denmark while standing next to a picture of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic revolution in Iran. The act was heavily condemned by Iran with a member of the office for the preservation of the works of the Islamic Revolution Leader, saying “The Iranian Leader strongly opposes the desecration of holy books”. But to know whether the man was truly linked to Ayatollah Khamenei or not we need to take a look at how he treats Jews and Christians inside Iran.

How are religious minorities treated in Iran?

In Iran, the desecration of holy books is prohibited and could lead to prison sentences. Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians in the country have been given seats in the parliament and are allowed to carry out their religious rituals unfettered. They have special schools and can take days off at work during their religious holidays. The biggest non-Muslim group in Iran are Armenians. While the Armenian genocide by Turkey put an end to thousands of years of Armenian civilization in Anatolia in the 20th century, the Christian minority has never been displaced or discriminated against in Iran. The policies enacted inside Iran show the Islamic republic’s condemnation of holy books’ desecration is not just empty words. Therefore, anyone linked to Ayatollah Khamenei would never think of burning the Torah or Bible. The second desecration act can be seen as an attempt by Israel to make Christians and Jews think that the group of Muslims insulting their beliefs are not the ones living in Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Jordan, but the ones who live inside Iran. This could eventually give Israel a hand in its massive anti-Iran campaign. 

What now?

The West was quick to realize the serious consequences of its arrogance. Western authorities, like the NATO and UN chiefs, ended up condemning the Iraqi-Swedish man’s damning action. But Europe must try to steer away from similar provocations in the future as it could shoot itself in the leg and have everything backfire by the unintended instigation of a religious war. Such circumstances would only benefit the Israeli regime as it can kill Palestinians more freely once Muslims’ image gets tarnished. It can also gain allies among Christians and Jews who think Iran has something against them. 

MHA/PA