The foreign minister made the remarks at an emergency meeting of the 57-member OIC, which was convened at the request of Iraq and Saudi Arabia, following the recent burning of the copies of the Quran in Sweden and Denmark.

“Unfortunately, the growing trend of intolerance and violence against Islam and Muslims in some European countries has become a fundamental challenge due to the support of certain ruling factions,” he told the meeting via video link.

The top diplomat said the sacrilegious and hateful act of insulting the Holy Quran, and the values ​​​​and beliefs of more than two billion Muslims around the world was the manifestation of a “very worrying trend".

Amir Abdollahian stressed that such actions target the mutual understanding and the spirit of peaceful coexistence in the international community by undermining the cultural and religious commonalities among nations and disrespecting human rights.

He expressed “deep regret” that some people insult beliefs and values ​​under the pretext of supporting the right to freedom of speech and are officially backed by certain European governments.

“We firmly believe that preventing any repetition of insults to religions, including Islam, is in the best interest of everyone,” the senior diplomat continued.

“The recent bitter events in Sweden and Denmark call for a collective responsibility on the part of Islamic countries to exert pressure on European governments to swiftly put an end to such provocative actions and hold the perpetrators accountable and punish them within the framework of the law,” he added.

In his remarks, Amir Abdollahian also proposed dispatching an OIC delegation to Sweden and Denmark to meet with their respective authorities, express the deep concern and sensitivity of Islamic governments and Muslim community regarding the recent offensive actions and demand “severe punishment” for those engaged in hate-mongering and anti-Islam activities.

The minister called on the OIC's jurisprudential agency and legal arm to urgently address the crucial issue with the aim of devising strategies to criminalize such sacrilegious acts at national, regional, and international levels both in real and virtual space.

He stressed that Islamic governments and the Muslim community, in case of any repetition of such moves in any of those countries, will undoubtedly have no option other than reducing the level of diplomatic relations or even severing diplomatic ties and imposing sanctions against the country in question.

Iran's Leader Calls for Maximum Punishment for Quran Sacrilegehttps://t.co/kik6qbc9cT pic.twitter.com/nrJhmQknu0

— Fars News Agency (@EnglishFars) July 22, 2023

The holy book of Islam has been subject to acts of desecration by extremists in several incidents in some European countries in recent months. Iranian officials have urged the Danish and Swedish governments to prevent the repetition of sacrilegious acts against Islamic values and sanctities and adopt effective measures to punish the preparators behind acts of desecration against the Holy Quran in the European states.

Since last year, the frequency of insults against Islam and its holy book has been on the rise in Europe. Several European countries have been playing host to such despicable acts on their soils over the past months, drawing far-and-wide condemnation from the world's Muslim countries.

Tehran describes the sacrilegious move as a blatant insult to Islam and Muslims across the world, and cautions that some European countries are allowing extremist groups to spread hatred against Islamic values and sanctities.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed that the sacrilegious act show that the arrogant powers’ attacks are aimed at Islam itself.