TEHRAN- On Saturday, members of a Danish extremist group desecrated the holy Quran in front of the Turkish and Iraqi embassies in Copenhagen.

Members of the ultranationalist group Danske Patrioter, or Danish Patriots, first burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy and then another copy in front of the Iraqi embassy.

The provocative deed was carried out under police protection as the culprits shouted anti-Islamic slurs.

The group broadcast the assault live on their social media platforms.

The recurrent burning of the Quran or efforts to do so by Islamophobic individuals or organizations, particularly in northern European and Nordic nations, have outraged Muslim nations and the international community at large.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres responded to these outrageous acts by expressing sympathy with the Muslim community and denouncing any action that promotes Islamophobia.

On August 9, while widely reflecting the latest statement of the Iranian embassy in Copenhagen regarding the continuation of insults to the Quran, Danish media described the statement as a direct message to the Danish prime minister. 

The news website 7:59, an important English-language news source in Denmark, quoted some Danish media outlets that the Iranian embassy had urged Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to spell the end of the insults and thwart the ongoing desecration of the Quran in the Scandinavian country.

Reportedly, Iran’s embassy expressed displeasure at the inaction of the Danish authorities to prevent the promotion of such a despicable act. 

Denouncing the ongoing blasphemous acts against the Quran in the country, the embassy asserted it is “shocked” by Copenhagen’s apathy.

“The embassy is shocked by the lack of action by the Danish authorities to prevent the continuous promotion of violence in the form of hateful and xenophobic speeches and insults to the Quran,” the statement said.

It made note of the fact that despite a request by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to put an end to this flagrant insult, the holy book is still being desecrated in the Nordic country.

The embassy also reaffirmed its great concern over the increasingly frequent attacks on the Muslim faith and urged the Danish government to take action in accordance with its international commitments.

Additionally, it asked Denmark to stop this “ridiculous show under the guise of defending freedom of speech” and stop additional insults to the Quran.

Extremist groups have desecrated the sacred Muslim book several times during the past month in Sweden and Denmark, whose governments have authorized and defended such abuses as “freedom of expression.”

The extremist Danish Patriots also set fire to copies of the Quran in Copenhagen on July 25 in front of the Egyptian and Turkish embassies in an anti-Islam demonstration. The sacrilegious act followed a string of Quran burnings in Denmark and Sweden a week before.

The entire Muslim community is furious about the sacrilegious deeds. The ambassadors of Sweden and Denmark have been summoned or expelled by a number of Muslim nations.

For example, Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador on July 20, in protest. The Quran burning in Stockholm had prompted hundreds of protesters to storm and set alight the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.
An Iraqi government statement said Baghdad had also recalled its charge d'affaires in Sweden, and Iraq's state news agency reported that Iraq had suspended the working permit of Sweden's Ericsson on Iraqi soil.

Despite condemning the burning of the Quran, the two Nordic nations claimed they were unable to stop it because freedom of expression is enshrined in their constitution.

The OIC, which represents 57 Muslim nations, has urged its members to counter appropriately — both politically or economically — toward countries where the Muslim holy book is being defiled. Additionally, it has asked the world community to unify in opposition to these hateful actions.

Also on July 29, the Iranian embassy in Copenhagen issued a statement condemning the insult to holy books, including the 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 at the time.

The embassy also condemned any continuation of such criminal actions and the 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.

Iran’s embassy in Denmark also 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 statement also noted that desecrating and burning the holy books is not only a clear example of religious hatred but also an insult to its followers and a clear violation of their human rights.