Iran announced late Friday that it would neither accept the new Swedish ambassador nor send its own diplomatic to Sweden amid a row over Stockholm permitting protests in which the Quran was desecrated.
“The Swedish ambassador’s term in Tehran has ended and, according to the president’s order, until the Swedish government takes serious action over the desecration of the Holy Qur’an, we will not accept the new Swedish ambassador,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said late Friday night.
“The Iranian ambassador will not be sent to Sweden,” he added.
The minister said that the replacement envoy would not be permitted to take over until the Swedish government took action to prevent the person who burned the Holy Quran.
“This is the decision the president has asked me to … announce to the Swedish government that we have taken this action,” he added.
The announcement came following an evening protest in Tehran’s capital when hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Swedish embassy.
The demonstration turned into a sit-in, during which the crowd threw eggs and tomatoes at the building and declared they would remain there until the Swedish ambassador was expelled from Iran.
