Iran vehemently condemns desecration of Holy Qur'an in Netherlands

“The Dutch government is expected to understand its responsibilities towards preventing insult against the values and religious sanctities of the world’s more than two-billion-strong Muslim population,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani said on Wednesday.

He advised the Netherlands to come in the way of “repetition of such reprehensible acts that take place in the name of ‘freedom of speech.'”

The remarks came days after Edwin Wagensveld, the ringleader of the Dutch chapter of the anti-Islam group PEGIDA, tore up a copy of the Muslim holy book in front of the Turkish, Pakistani, and Indonesian Embassies in The Hague and insulted Islam and Muslims.

He then thanked the Dutch police for providing him with protection during his perpetration of the heinous gesture.

On Monday, the Organization of the Islamic Council (OIC) similarly condemned the act of desecration, urging the Dutch authorities to stop the provocative, Islamophobic acts.

“The Council condemned all attempts to denigrate the sanctity of al-Mus’haf ash-Sharif (Holy Qur’an) as well as other sacred books, values, and symbols of Islam and other religions under the garb of freedom of expression, which is contrary to the spirit of Articles (19) and (20) of the ICCPR (The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights),” read a statement by the body.

Several cities across the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark have witnessed similar instances of desecration of the Muslim holy book since the beginning of the year.

The blasphemous gestures, all of which have taken place with the go-ahead given by the countries’ respective governments and amid protection provided by their security forces, have opened the floodgates of protest across the Muslim world.