TEHRAN- The Iranian embassy in Copenhagen on Friday condemned the insult to holy books, including Quran.

“The Iranian embassy in Copenhagen strongly condemns the insulting action against religious books and national symbols in Copenhagen and believes that such actions are planned and implemented by extremists with seditious goals and motives,” the embassy said in a statement.

The embassy also condemned any continuation of such criminal actions and lack of a decisive move to prevent such defamatory actions.   

While highlighting that freedom of speech is a fundamental human rights principle, the embassy said it should not be used as an excuse to insult religions, holy books, or symbols and national values of nations.

Also on Saturday, Kazem Jalali, Iran’s ambassador to Russia, decried any disrespect to the Quran.

Earlier, Iran’s embassy in Denmark had called on all governments to ensure that extremists are not given the opportunity to harm the feelings of the followers of any religion under the slogan of freedom of expression.

The embassy strongly condemned the insult to the holy books of religions, including the Quran, the Bible and the Torah.

The statement also noted that the desecration and burning the holy books of different religions is not only a clear example of religious hatred, but also an insult to its followers and a clear violation of their human rights.

“Offensive acts such as insulting religious books are not freedom of speech, but rather a blatant expression of hatred,” it added.

On July 23, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi panned the Swedish government’s response to the burning of the holy Quran on its land, saying that just condemning the sacrilegious conduct is not enough.

“Issuing a statement to condemn the insult against the holy Quran by the Swedish government is by no means sufficient and this government must bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice,” the president stated.

The remarks were made by Raisi in response to the desecration of the Quran by Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden.

He carried out the sacrilegious act twice, first in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on June 28 and once more on July 20 in front of the Iraqi embassy, both times under the strong protection of the Swedish police.

The sacrilegious conducts have sparked widespread protests around the Muslim world, particularly in Iran. All Muslim nations have issued harsh condemnations of the act.

Given that the current terms of the Iranian and Swedish ambassadors are about to expire, Iran’s president stated he has directed the Foreign Ministry not to proceed with the exchange of new ambassadors.

Iran has already summoned Sweden’s diplomat to Tehran in response to Momika’s sacrilegious behavior in order to convey the Islamic Republic’s angry with the Swedish authorities for letting the acts to go ahead.

Following the burning of the Quran in Sweden, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian declared that his nation will not accept a new ambassador from Stockholm.