Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen held a telephone conversation with the foreign minister of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Wednesday evening amid the repetition of the desecration of the holy Qur'an in front of Egypt, Turkey and Pakistani embassies in Copenhagen over the past few days.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark expressed his regret over the sacrilege of the holy Qur'an, saying, "Denmark strongly condemns any act of insulting the holy Qur'an."
Rasmussen stated, "Although the main pillar of the Danish constitution is freedom of speech, religion and peaceful demonstrations, some abuse it, which we consider unacceptable."
The Danish top diplomat added that nobody should think that the Danish people are like those few people who do acts of Qur'an sacrilege.
Amir-Abdullahian, for his part, described the initiative of Denmark in making the phone call and the stance of the Danish government in condemning this action as commendable and emphasized the necessity of punishing those who insult the Qur'an.
The Iranian diplomat condemned the recent cases of desecration of the Holy Quran, saying "Freedom of speech is not like that religious values are targeted and attacked. Accordingly, the repetition of such ridiculous and insulting actions, which brings back the memory of the era of Jahiliyyah or ignorance, is condemned in the strongest term possible."
He said that Qur'an desecration not only hurts the feelings of Muslims but also those of all Abrahamic religions followers and for that the UN passed the recent resolution.
The Iranian minister further said, "Considering the repetition of the abhorrent phenomenon of sacrilege of the Holy Qur'an and the warnings conveyed to Denmark through diplomatic channels, the Danish government is seriously expected to prevent the repetition of such behaviors with an abiding sense of responsibility and taking effective measures to make the perpetrators hold to account with severe punishment."
In the call, the two sides emphasized the importance of maintaining and strengthening the existing bilateral relations.
KI