The Iranian Foreign Minister said on Tuesday it had summoned the Norwegian charge d'affaires, in the absence of its ambassador, to convey strong condemnation and objection to the recent burning of Holy Quran by the leader of 'SIAN-Stop Islamization In Norway' extremist group in the European country.
The foreign ministry warned that the Norwegian man's action in burning the Quran would have dangerous consequences that could lead to the expansion of extremism and violence in the European country.
The Director of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's North Europe Office told Norway's charge d'affaires that Islamic beliefs of 1.5 billion Muslim cannot be offended under the guise of Freedom of Expression.
He urged the Norwegian government to prevent the repetition of such seditious acts and oppose the perpetrators behind such an action.
The Norwegian charge d'affaires, in turn, emphasized that he would convey the Islamic Republic of Iran's protest to the Norwegian government, adding "the Norwegian government utterly rejects this action and our principal policy is to protect freedom of expression and belief and to prevent disseminating hate speech, and that the Norwegian government is committed to protecting the safety of Muslims living in the country and preventing extremist and divisive actions."
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