MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2023) Iranians took to the streets across the country after Friday prayers to protest the recent desecration of the holy Muslim book, the Quran, in Sweden, Iranian news agency Fars reported.
Protesters were filmed waving Iranian flags. They chanted anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans and held up banners that read "Death to the US!" and "Death to Israel!"
A Sputnik correspondent reported on Friday that protesters also gathered near the Swedish Embassy in Tehran, demanding that the authorities expel Sweden's ambassador. Iranians were shouting anti-Swedish and anti-American slogans during the rally and were holding placards saying: "The embassy must be closed."
A police cordon was put in place at the embassy's gate, the correspondent reported.
Iran summoned the Swedish ambassador in Tehran on Thursday evening to warn the Nordic countries of potential consequences after an Iraqi migrant stepped on a copy of the Quran outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm but stopped short of burning it. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told the diplomat that Iran saw the Swedish government as fully responsible for provoking Muslims around the globe.
Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador on Thursday after Swedish police gave 37-year-old Iraqi immigrant Salwan Momika the go-ahead to stage a new Quran-burning protest. His previous act in June sparked outrage in many Muslim countries.
