Won’t accept new Swedish envoy, says Iran

KABUL (Pajhwok): Amid protests in the Muslim world against the desecration of the Quran, Iran says it will neither accept the new Swedish ambassador nor send its own diplomat to Stockholm.

The Swedish ambassador had completed his assignment in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said late Friday night. .

Mehr News Agency quoted him as saying Iran would not accept the new Swedish ambassador in compliance with a presidential order.

The new envoy would not be allowed to take over until the Swedish government took deterrent action against the individual who burnt the Holy Quran, the minister explained.

“This is the decision the president has asked me to … announce to the Swedish government that we have taken this action,” the top Iranian diplomat commented.

Speaking soon after an angry protest in Tehran, the foreign minister said: “The Iranian ambassador will not be sent (either) to Sweden.”

Elsewhere in the country, similar demonstrations took place Tabriz, Mashhad, Isfahan and other big cities.

PAN Monitor/mud