TEHRAN- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned Sweden's chargé d'affaires to express the Islamic Republic's strong condemnation of a Swedish far-right group's desecration of the Holy Quran during Ramadan.

The Foreign Ministry expressed Iran's strong condemnation of the sacrilege of Islam's holy book by the leader of a far-right group under the protection of Swedish police and under the guise of freedom of expression.

On Saturday, Rasmus Paludan, the Danish head of Sweden's far-right Stram Kurs party, attempted to burn a copy of Quran outside Muslim community center.

Reportedly, Paludan told news agencies he has burned a copy of Islam's holy book and wants to do so again.

Paludan, escorted by police, allegedly proceeded to an open public space in the southern Swedish city of Linkoping and attempted to set the holy book on fire despite protestations from bystanders.

A high-ranking official at the Iranian Foreign Ministry urged Sweden to take quick and decisive action to put a stop to the sacrilege of the book and ensure that similar atrocities do not occur again.

Offending the sanctities of more than two billion Muslims and hurting their sentiments is the worst conceivable kind of free expression, the official said.

“This regrettable incident, which was carried out under protection of the Swedish police has marred the image of Sweden among Muslims of the world,” the diplomat noted.

The Swedish envoy expressed remorse for the event, saying that he will soon inform his country's leaders of Iran's strong protest.

Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh condemned the Swedish far-right group's desecration of the holy book, calling the blasphemous act a clear example of hatemongering and a violation of free expression.

“[Iran] strongly condemns the burning of the Holy Quran by an extremist racist Danish element in the Swedish city of Linkoping, which took place under the pretext of freedom of expression and under the auspices of the Swedish police,” Khatibzadeh pointed out. 

Violent skirmishes with counter-demonstrators against the desecration of the Quran resumed in Sweden for the third day in a row on Sunday, police reported.

According to police, protestors burned rubbish bins, a bus, and a car in a sequence of events overnight in the southern city of Malmo.

Police spokeswoman Kim Hild stated that no cops were harmed, but a number of members of the public were slightly wounded. Nearly 20 complaints, including vandalism, had been made.

Similar fights have occurred in previous days in response to the blasphemy.

During protests against the move on Saturday, police and protestors clashed violently in a Muslim-dominated district of central Sweden.

Counter-protesters, estimated at roughly 200 individuals by local media, broke into the event and clashed with members of the far-right party and Swedish police as a result of the blasphemy.

In Orebro, central Sweden, nine police officers were hurt in similar conflicts on Friday.

Three police officers were injured during a disturbance in the city of Linkoping in eastern Sweden on Thursday. At that rally, two individuals were detained.