Nasrallah calls on Arab, Muslim countries to expel Sweden's envoys

Hezbollah has called for a demonstration Friday afternoon after Swedish police permitted a protest Thursday in which an Iraqi Christian living in Stockholm kicked and stood on a Quran, outside of the Iraqi Embassy. Hours before that, demonstrators in Baghdad broke into the Swedish Embassy and lit a fire to show their anger at his threats to burn the book.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a video address Thursday night called on Muslims to demand their governments expel Sweden's ambassadors.

"It's the minimum required," he said.

“I invite brothers and sisters in all neighborhoods and villages to attend all mosques, carrying their Qurans and sit in them, calling on the state to take a stance toward Sweden," Nasrallah said in the address, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency.

On Friday “the whole world must see how we embrace our Quran, and the whole world must see how we protect our Quran with our blood.”

This is the second Quran desecration to involve the Iraqi Christian in Sweden, identified as Salwan Momika. Last month, a man identified by local media and on his social media as Momika burned a Quran outside a Stockholm mosque during the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, triggering widespread condemnation in the Islamic world.

The right to hold public demonstrations is protected by the constitution in Sweden. Blasphemy laws were abandoned in the 1970s. Police generally give permission based on whether they believe a public gathering can be held without major disruptions or safety risks.

For Muslims, the burning of the Quran represents a desecration of their religion’s holy text. Quran burnings in the past have sparked protests across the Muslim world, some turning violent. In Afghanistan, the Taliban suspended all the activities of Swedish organizations in the country in response to the recent Quran burning.

A similar protest by a far-right activist was held outside Turkey’s Embassy earlier this year, complicating Sweden’s efforts to persuade Turkey to let it join NATO.

In June, protesters who support al-Sadr stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad over that Quran burning.

On Thursday, Middle East powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Iran summoned Swedish diplomats to denounce the Quran desecration.