Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday moved towards severing diplomatic ties with Sweden in an expression of shock that Stockholm has allowed an Iraqi activist to carry demonstrations through which he desecrated the Koran.

Days after Iraq’s prime minister ordered the expulsion of Sweden’s ambassador within the face of public anger over the desecrations, Mr. Raisi stated Iran will not welcome a Swedish ambassador in Tehran.

Mr. Raisi famous Sunday in remarks that the tenures of the present Iranian and Swedish ambassadors have come to an finish, and asserted that he has ordered the Foreign Ministry to not go forward with the alternate of latest ambassadors between the 2 international locations, in accordance with Iran’s Fars News Agency.

The improvement marks the newest in a case that has discovered Sweden dealing with criticism from Muslim-majority governments and demonstrators over the dealing with of Salwan Momika, a person recognized in media experiences as an Iraqi Christian-turned-atheist who's accused of desecrating Islam’s holy e book.

For Muslims, any desecration of the Koran is abhorrent.

While Swedish officers have publicly condemned any desecration of the holy e book, the Momika case is on the heart of a free speech combat in Sweden and has triggered demonstrations within the Middle East and past.

Most lately, Swedish police gave permission to Mr. Momika, who lives in Stockholm, to carry a protest through which he threatened to burn a replica of the Koran after which kicked and stood on the holy e book outdoors the Iraqi embassy within the Swedish capital.

Mr. Momika gave related therapy to an Iraqi flag and to images of Iraqi Shiite Muslim cleric and political chief Muqtada al-Sadr, in addition to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The incident was the second to contain Mr. Momika this summer time. Last month, he was reported to have burned pages of a Koran outdoors a Stockholm mosque throughout the Muslim vacation of Eid al-Adha, triggering condemnation from across the Muslim world.

Demonstrations in response to the desecrations have been most intense in Iraq, the place protesters stormed and occupied the Swedish embassy compound for a number of hours and began a small fireplace on Thursday.

Embassy employees had been evacuated earlier than the compound was stormed. Swedish information company TT reported that they had been relocated to Stockholm for safety causes.

Thousands of individuals then took to the streets in a handful of different Mideast international locations, together with Iran on Friday to precise outrage over the Swedish authorities’s coverage towards Mr. Momika.

Mr. Raisi weighed in Sunday, calling Mr. Momika’s actions a criminal offense and urging Sweden to arrest him.

“Issuing a statement to condemn the insult against the Holy Quran by the Swedish government is by no means sufficient and this government must bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice,” the Iranian president said, in accordance with Fars.

• This article relies partially on wire service experiences.

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