Leader calls for ‘severest punishment’ for Qur’an desecration

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called for the “severest punishment” for the perpetrator of the desecration of the Holy Qur’an in Sweden.

“Effrontery to the sacred realm of ​​the Holy Qur’an in Sweden is a bitter, conspiratorial and dangerous incident. The severest punishment for the perpetrator of this crime is the consensus view of all Islamic scholars,” the Leader said in a message on Saturday.

“The Swedish government should also know that by supporting a criminal, it has taken a war stance against the Islamic world and attracted the hatred and enmity of the Muslim nations and many of their governments,” the Leader said.

“The responsibility of that government is to hand over the perpetrator of the crime to the judicial systems of Islamic countries,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

“The conspirators behind the scenes should also know that the sanctity and grandeur of the Holy Qur’an will increase day by day and the lights of its guidance will become brighter," the Leader said.

“The likes of this conspiracy and its perpetrators are too lowly to be able to prevent this ever-increasing brilliance,” he added.

The desecration of the Qur’an by an extremist in Stockholm has triggered widespread protests and condemnation across the Muslim world.

The demonstrations come after Swedish police on Thursday permitted the man living in Stockholm for the second time to desecrate the Qur’an. 

People in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Lebanon and other countries have staged massive rallies to condemn the blasphemous act.

On Thursday, demonstrators in Baghdad broke into the Swedish embassy and set part of it on fire to show their anger at the sacrilegious act.

The Iraqi government also ordered the Swedish ambassador to leave and decided to withdraw its envoy from Stockholm for permitting the desecration of the Holy Qur’an.

Under scorching heat, millions of worshipers took to the streets across Iran after Friday prayers, holding copies of the Holy Qur’an and chanting “Death to the Americanized Sweden! Death to Israel!

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran will not accept a new Swedish ambassador until Stockholm takes a "serious and effective measure to deal with the continuous violation of Islamic sanctities". 

SS