Insulting sanctities tantamount to crime: Iran Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian

Iran's Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian during his speech at the extraordinary foreign ministerial meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held via video conference on Monday said that disrespecting religious sanctities is tantamount to a crime, Iranian News Agency Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

He regretted that some individuals denigrate ideas and principles while claiming to defend freedom of expression.

“We firmly believe that preventing any repetition of insults to religions, including Islam, is in the best interest of everyone,” the Iranian foreign minister said.

According to IRNA, he emphasised that the recent tragic events in Sweden and Denmark require the Islamic world as a whole to exert pressure on the governments of Europe to immediately put an end to such provocative actions, hold the perpetrators accountable, and punish them in accordance with the law.

A wave of demonstrations has seen protesters in both Denmark and Sweden burn copies of the Quran outside the embassies of Muslim nations in recent days. The protests have been sparsely attended.

Amirabdollahian also proposed dispatching an OIC delegation to Sweden and Denmark to meet with their respective authorities to express the deep concern and sensitivity of Islamic governments and the Muslim community regarding the recent offensive actions and demand "severe punishment" for those engaged in hate-mongering and anti-Islam activities.

The Iranian foreign minister urged the OIC's jurisprudential agency and legal arm to urgently address the crucial issue with the aim of devising strategies to criminalize such sacrilegious acts at national, regional, and international levels both in real and virtual space.

He emphasized that the Islamic governments and the Muslim community, in case of any repetition of such moves in any of those countries, will undoubtedly have no option other than reducing the level of diplomatic relations or even severing diplomatic ties and imposing sanctions against the country in question, IRNA reported.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held an emergency meeting with the participation of foreign ministers from member countries to address recent acts of desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden and Denmark.

Hissein Brahim Taha, the secretary-general of the OIC, expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia and Iran for convening the emergency meeting on Monday to collectively address the incidents of desecration of the Holy Quran, IRNA reported.

Addressing the virtual conference, Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi foreign minister, voiced strong condemnation of the incidents.

In recent years, certain European countries, particularly in Scandinavia, have witnessed instances of desecration and disrespect towards Muslim sanctities, often with the approval of authorities.