TEHRAN- Iran’s embassy in Denmark, condemning the insult to the Holy Quran, has 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.

In a statement on Monday, 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 Saturday, an activist outside the Israeli embassy in Sweden protested against the sacrilegious acts of burning holy books but stopped short of his stated aim of burning the Jewish holy book, the Torah. 

Ahmad Alloush was accompanied by dozens of Swedish police officers, who appeared willing for the blasphemous act of burning the Torah to go ahead by standing back and watching on. 

The 32-year-old took out the book, holy to Jews around the world, along with a lighter from a bag. 

But he stopped short of setting the Torah ablaze, saying, “This is a response to the people who burn the Quran. I want to show that freedom of expression has limits that must be taken into account.”

In his permit request to police, Alloush said that he wanted to burn the Torah and Bible in response to two recent incidents in which the Quran was set on fire in Sweden.

Recently, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian announced that Tehran has decided to put off sending its newly-appointed ambassador to Sweden over the Scandinavian country’s controversial move of allowing sacrilege to the holy Quran. 

“We talked in detail with my colleague Mr. Hojjatullah Faghani, the new ambassador of our country to Sweden, and he also presented a report on the latest status of his mission,” the foreign minister said on Twitter. 

“Despite the completion of the administrative procedures, the process of sending the ambassador to Sweden has been stopped due to the action of the government of this country in issuing permits for the desecration of the holy Quran,” he added. 

Iran has protested the Swedish inaction. The chargé d’affaires of the Swedish embassy in Tehran was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Director General of the Western Europe Department, in the absence of the country’s ambassador.

The official said the Swedish government’s silence and passive behavior embolden violators of one of the basic and obvious principles of human rights, namely the principle of respect for religious and divine values, according to the ministry.

He added that such an ill-considered move was nothing new on Swedish soil, and that the Iranian side had previously relayed its dissatisfaction to Sweden.

If Sweden had taken action to stop such insults in time, no more desecration of Islamic sanctities would have taken place, the Iranian diplomat said.

He added that the Islamic Republic, along with the entire Islamic world, does not tolerate any attack on the holy book of the Muslims or any greenlight for such moves, therefore, the Swedish government is expected to fulfill its most obvious duty in preventing insults to the spiritual and religious values of Muslims responsibly and in an effective and preemptive manner.

In response, the Swedish chargé d’affaires emphasized the Swedish government’s opposition to any form of Islamophobia.