Cairo, Jul 26 (EFE) – Iran announced Wednesday that foreign ministers of the 56 member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) would meet virtually on July 31, to discuss the burning of copies of the Quran – the holy book of Islam – in Sweden and Denmark.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Naser Kanani said in a statement that the OIC had agreed to hold an emergency meeting of foreign ministers on Monday next week to discuss the “offenses” to the Quran in Sweden and Denmark.
The spokesperson underlined that the meeting comes as a result of a proposal by Tehran and Baghdad, as well as several calls and messages from the head of Iranian diplomacy, Hosein Amir Abdolahian, to his counterparts in Islamic countries.
In two weeks, individuals have burned copies of the Quran in front of the embassies of Arab countries in Stockholm and Copenhagen, provoking an angry reaction from the Islamic world.
On Wednesday, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, stressed that the desecration of the Koran was “offensive” and “a clear provocation.”
“We continue to stand up for freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression, abroad and at home; but not everything that is legal is ethical,” Borrell said in a statement.
The burning of the Quran led Iraqi protesters to storm the Swedish embassy in Baghdad last week and set it on fire, while the Iraqi government expelled the ambassador from the European nation.
Another group of protesters tried to break into the headquarters of Denmark’s diplomatic mission in the Iraqi capital on Saturday, but were stopped by the security forces, whereas Danish diplomatic personnel have already left the Arab country, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. EFE
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