Muslim states must cut diplomatic, economic ties with Sweden

Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah's Saturday remarks came after on Friday, he called on all Muslim countries to expel the Swedish ambassadors from their capitals in reaction to a second instance of the desecration of Muslims' holy book in Sweden.

Nasrallah said the positions that are being adopted by Arab and Muslim countries on this sacrilegious act "must lead to severance of [their] diplomatic and economic relations" with the Swedish government.

Adding to his Saturday comments, the Hezbollah leader said the Muslim world should not be duped by the Swedish and Danish governments sufficing to mere apologies over the sacrilegious acts.

Nasrallah was referring to two instances of the desecration of the Holy Qur'an in Sweden and the repetition of the sacrilegious act in Denmark, which prompted Iran to summon the Danish ambassador to Tehran in vehement protest at the insulting act.

"We must not be deceived by the Swedish and Danish [governments'] apologies, [because] they are not enough and these governments must prevent such abusive behavior," the Hezbollah leader said.

He also hailed the Iraqi government for reacting to the insulting act by expelling the Swedish ambassador from Baghdad and withdrawing its own envoy from Stockholm.

Nasrallah also warned the Swedish government against allowing the repetition of such sacrilegious acts on its soil, saying, "If the Swedish government remains on this path, it will be considered a country fighting Islam and Muslims."

The Hezbollah leader urged the Swedish government to pay due attention to the remarks made by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, especially to that part in which the Leader described Stockholm as a "government that has taken battle array against Islam" by authorizing desecration of Muslims' holy book.

Nasrallah also warned that if it is confirmed that the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, is behind the desecration of the Qur'an, it would mean that such sacrilegious acts would continue and would be followed by strong popular and official reactions from the Muslim world.

Earlier in July, Iran's Intelligence Ministry said the Iraqi national who burnt a copy of the Holy Qur'an in Stockholm was affiliated with the Israeli Mossad spy agency and engaged in espionage activities against resistance groups.

The ministry said in its statement that Salwan Momika was born in Iraq in 1986 and was hired by Mossad in 2019, stressing that his notoriety and criminal records in his home country were “accepted and welcomed by Zionists” at the time.

After being recruited by the Israeli spy agency, the Iraqi man “played a major role in spying on the resistance movement and advancing the project of Iraq's disintegration,” the Intelligence Ministry added.

The ministry underlined that the desecration of the Holy Qur’an by Momika was part of an Israeli project to detract the world's public attention away from the regime’s atrocities against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, especially in the city of Jenin.