Iran’s Ali Khamenei demands that Sweden hand over the person who burned the Koran to Muslim countries. In Iraq, again, someone made an armed attack on a Danish charity.
Roni Kuronen,
Eelis Bjurström
In the Middle East, the anger of citizens over the Korans burned in Sweden and Denmark will not subside.
Iran’s religious leader Ali Khamenei wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the Swedish government is taking the country to war against the Muslim world.
Khamenei also wrote that the Swedish government should hand over the person who burned the Koran to the legal systems of Muslim countries.
Danish charity under attack
Danish public broadcasting company Dr says that the facilities of a Danish charity organization operating in Basra, the second largest city of Iraq, neighboring Iran, have been the target of an armed attack.
The Danish Refugee Council, an organization that provides refugee aid in different countries, confirms that its offices in Basra were attacked on Saturday.
– Our office was set on fire early Saturday morning, while our staff was there, the organization says in its written response to DR.
The organization has no information that anyone was injured in the attack.
– We condemn this attack. Aid organizations should never be subjected to violence.
Protesters in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, tried to storm the Danish embassy on Saturday after the far-right Danish group Danske Patrioter released a video showing people burning the Koran and trampling on the Iraqi flag.
– I condemn all stupid acts like the one that a small group of individuals did yesterday in front of the Iraqi embassy, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen tells the country’s public broadcaster to DR.
According to Rasmussen, despising another religion is a shameful act, the sole purpose of which is to provoke and cause division in society. According to him, the matter concerns not only the Koran but also the burning of other religious objects and symbols.
The Copenhagen police have confirmed on Saturday that the book was burned in front of the Iraqi embassy on Friday. However, the police have not been able to find out if the book set on fire was really the Koran.
Demonstrations against the burning of the Koran are scheduled to continue on Saturday in various parts of Iraq.
The story was updated at 19:07 with Ali Khamenei’s comments.
See also A-studio’s discussion “Can you burn the Koran?” (7/2/2023):