TEHRAN - A group of Iranian university students on Tuesday held a gathering in front of Sweden’s Embassy in Tehran to protest the desecration of the Quran in the Western country.
On Friday, a group of Swedish right-wing extremists set fire to the Quran, the holy book of more than two billion Muslims in the world, under the pretext of the freedom of speech.
The Iranian students called on the Swedish authorities to punish the elements involved in the blasphemous action. They were carrying placards and chanting such slogans as “Our Redline, Prophet, Quran”, “Muslim’s Silence Betrayal of Quran,” and “Muslim Students Supporter of Religion, Quran.”
They issued a statement on the condemnation of the desecration, noting that such blasphemies were being led by the Zionist lobbyism and support to desecrate Islamic sanctities and made the Muslims’ lives harder in the western countries.
The statement said the Swedish groups challenged the respect for beliefs as an example of respecting others’ rights, an issue cited in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The Iranian students noted that Quran was eternal and Islam was flourishing every day.

Sweden Turning Into Prison for Muslims

Iran’s secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi has taken the government of Sweden to task over its support for plans by a far-right group to publicly burn copies of the Holy Qur’an, which has sparked violent protests across the European country since Thursday.
The remarks by Gharibabadi came after Rasmus Paludan, the Danish leader of Sweden’s far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party, burned a copy of the Qur’an in a heavily-populated Muslim area on Saturday.
Paludan, accompanied by police, went to an open public space in the southern Swedish city of Linkoping and reportedly placed the Muslim holy book down and tried to set it on fire while ignoring protests from onlookers.
Taking to his official Twitter page, Iran’s rights official said, “Sacrilege to religious sanctities is under no circumstances whatsoever acceptable.”
He added that as religious intolerance rages across Europe “Sweden is morphing into a prison for Muslims with the support of the government.”
“Seems they’ve missed Medieval Inquisition!” he added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan foreign ministry in a statement has strongly condemned the recent abhorrent act of desecration of the Holy Quran during rallies in Sweden and the offensive remarks made by a Dutch politician, attacking Islam and the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan.
Pakistan foreign ministry said these mindless provocative Islamophobic incidents serve no purpose
other than hurting the sensitivities of over 1.5 billion Muslims living all over the world.
Such actions are not covered under legitimate expressions of the right to freedom of expression or opinion, which carry responsibilities under international human rights law, such as the obligation not to carry out hate speech and incite people to violence.
It said Muslims, including in Pakistan, unequivocally condemn the practice of insulting Islam, Christianity, and Judaism alike, and stand against all acts of violence on the basis of religion or belief. These principles must be equally respected and supported by all.
The statement called upon the international community to show a common resolve against xenophobia, intolerance, and incitement to violence on the basis of religion or belief, and work together for promoting inter-faith harmony and peaceful coexistence. That has been the spirit behind the OIC’s recent initiative led by Pakistan at the UN General Assembly to designate March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.