Tehran strongly denounces desecration of Quran in Denmarak

Nasser Kan’ani made the remark after a Danish group burned a copy of the Holy Qur'an during a demonstration in the capital Copenhagen. According to media reports, the group also burned Turkey’s flag during the same demonstration.

“This act of desecration, which was done by an extremist group during the holy month of Ramadan … is an insult to the divine religion of Islam and a blatant affront to all Muslims of the world,” Kan'ani said.

Noting that this insulting measure was taken on Friday, which coincided with International Quds Day when all free-thinking people of the world were calling for the liberation of al-Quds from the Zionist regime’s occupation, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman added, “This is the most appalling way to demonstrate the claim that the West calls freedom of expression.”

“Being free to insult the sanctities of Muslims is another flip side of Takfiri extremism and violence, and deserves the same degree of global condemnation and inhibitory reaction,” he added.

Kan'ani also asked the government of Denmark to take categorical steps to prevent the repetition of such hateful measures.

Since last year, the frequency of insults against Islam and its holy book has been on the rise in Europe. Several European countries have been playing host to such despicable acts on their soils over the past months, drawing far-and-wide condemnation from the world's Muslim countries.

In January, dual Danish and Swedish citizen Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Holy Qur'an in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, and later again in front of a mosque.

Days later in the Netherlands, far-right extremist, Edwin Wagensveld, who leads the anti-Muslim PEGIDA party, tore a copy of the Qur'an apart before setting it on fire.

Muslim countries across the world, especially in the West Asia region, have issued separate statements, condemning in the strongest terms desecration of the Holy Qur'an in Denmark. They asserted that such insulting acts hurt the feelings of the world Muslims during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry described such acts as a form of hate crime, saying that Ankara would not accept "vile actions being allowed under the guise of freedom of expression."