RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Thursday strongly condemned and denounced “the repeated and irresponsible actions of the Swedish authorities by granting some extremists official permits authorizing them to burn and desecrate copies of the Holy Qur’an,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Protesters including Salwan Momika, the Iraqi immigrant to Sweden who burned the Qur’an outside a Stockholm mosque in June, had received permission from Swedish police to burn the Qur’an outside the Iraqi embassy on Thursday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the move as “an act that is a systematic provocation of the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world.”

It added that it will summon the charge d’affaires of the Swedish embassy to hand him a protest note with the Kingdom’s request to the Swedish authorities to take all immediate and necessary measures to stop these disgraceful acts, which violate all religious teachings, and international laws and norms.

The ministry affirmed the “Kingdom’s categorical rejection of all these acts that fuel hatred between religions and limit dialogue between peoples.”

Saudi Arabia joined the international community in denouncing the incidents and several other countries have also summoned their Swedish ambassadors, with Iraq expelling its top envoy earlier on Thursday.