Iran summons German envoy over desecration of Quran, Islamic sanctities in Hamburg

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned Germany’s chargé d'affaires to express the country’s strong condemnation of a provocative move by a small number of Islamophobes who desecrated the Holy Quran and Islamic sanctities in the Central European country.

The Director of the First Department for Western Europe at the Foreign Ministry called in the diplomat on Monday to voice Tehran’s vehement denunciation of the sacrilege of Islam’s holy book in front of the Islamic Center of Hamburg as a clear example of hate-mongering, violence, and extremism.

According to Press TV, the senior Iranian diplomat pointed out the Islamic Republic of Iran holds the German government responsible in this case, and demands decisive action against the perpetrators of this offensive action,

According to reports, a group of ten people committed the sacrilegious move on Tasu’a, which marks the ninth of the lunar calendar month of Muharram, a day before Ashura when Imam Hussein (PBUH), a grandson of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny), and his 72 companions were martyred in the Battle of Karbala, in southern Iraq, in 680 AD after fighting courageously for justice against the much larger army of the Umayyad caliph, Yazid I.

German police forces, who were present in the place, did not take any action to prevent the blasphemous act, which is prohibited under Germany’s law, nor reacted to those who committed it, Iran’s Al-Alam television news network reported.

Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kan’ani slammed the “provocative” move and warned of its “dangerous” consequences and implications.

“This blasphemous act is a clear example of sedition and spreading hatred and is categorically condemned by all Muslims, monotheists …and those who believe in coexistence and interfaith dialogue,” he said.

He noted that such acts are “another aspect of extremism and Takfiri violence” that require a “strong and deterrent response from governments that claim to be supporting human rights, freedom, and democracy.”

Kan’ani urged Germany to take “an immediate and strong” action over the incident and called for holding the perpetrators to account in order to prevent the repetition of such acts.

ME