Iraqis respond to Sweden’s offensive action against the Quran.
Tahrir Square in Baghdad once again became the scene of the gathering of the people of this country. But this time, unlike the previous times, they gathered and chanted not to protest against the Iraqi government, but to show their unity and anger against the insulting actions of Sweden.
The Swedish government, once again under the pretext of the need to defend freedom of speech, permitted to burn the Holy Quran and the Iraqi flag in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on Thursday. This incident caused the reaction of the Iraqi people and the attack of the protesters on the Iraqi embassy. In the beginning, it was said that the protestors’ demonstrations were started by Moqtada Sadr’s supporters, but later it became clear that all political spectrums of Iraq were outraged by the insulting action of the Swedish government.
Protesting Iraqi Muslims protested the Swedish government with photos of mujtahids and religious leaders, as well as photos of martyrs and elders of the resistance axis.
Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, held an extraordinary meeting on Thursday morning with the presence of the foreign ministers of the country, the head of the National Security Agency, and the deputy of the National Intelligence Organization. In this meeting, while adopting national positions against Sweden’s insulting action, it was discussed that the burning of the embassy was condemned as a security violation and necessary measures should be taken to ensure the safety of Swedish diplomats, which should be resolved immediately and the authorities’ negligence should be investigated. After this meeting, the Iraqi Prime Minister’s office announced in a statement: “The government of Iraq has announced to Sweden through diplomatic channels that in case of repeating the burning of the Holy Quran and issuing a license under the pretext of freedom of expression, it will cut off all diplomatic relations with Sweden.”
Expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Baghdad
The events that happened with the repetition of Sweden’s ugly actions, brought a series of reactions and new events during the past days. In the beginning, the protesters attacked the Swedish embassy and then, the Iraqi government asked the Swedish ambassador to leave Baghdad as soon as possible. In the first internal reaction to the news of the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador, Hadi Ameri, the head of the Fatah coalition, supported Baghdad’s decision and considered it a right action. Also, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, the spokesman of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, published the news of the Swedish ambassador’s expulsion order, and it was announced that Iraqi Prime Minister Shia Al-Sudani had ordered the minister of his government to return to Baghdad from Stockholm.
The expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq was supported by many authorities and institutions. The Awqaf Administration of the Sunnis of Iraq supported this action and called for a complete boycott of Sweden. Mohammad Al-Halbousi, the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, announced: “We support the Iraqi government’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Sweden.”
Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has also announced that it has suspended the activities of its representative office in Stockholm, Sweden.
the president of Iraq; He considered the protest against Sweden to be the right of the people
Dr. Latif Jamal Rashid, the president of Iraq, issued a statement and strongly condemned the burning of the Holy Quran and the Iraqi flag in Sweden, and considered it a behavior far from commitment and responsibility. The statement of the President of Iraq states: “With great surprise, we witnessed that they burned God’s holy book and the flag of our Iraqi country in irresponsible behavior. We strongly condemn this behavior. Through diplomatic channels, we ask Sweden to respect our beliefs and sanctities and not to hurt the feelings of our people with wrong actions. Therefore, it is necessary to stop these violations and end them.”
The President of Iraq continues to support the right of peaceful expression to protest these actions, taking into account the country’s responsibility in maintaining diplomatic traditions and following international customs and laws.
An emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation should be held
Fawad Hossein, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, in a telephone conversation with the Permanent Representative of Iraq in Jeddah, called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to be held as soon as possible regarding the insulting of Islamic sanctities. He also sent a note about recent developments to the Arab League.
