Protesters burn Quran outside Iraq embassy in Denmark

A small group of protesters in Denmark on Monday set fire to a copy of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, in front of the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen, risking a further deterioration of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The protesters were from a group that calls itself “Danish Patriots,” which held a similar demonstration last week and livestreamed the events on Facebook.

Several thousand Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad on Saturday over the burning or damaging of the Quran during anti-Islam protests in Sweden and Denmark, in a gathering called by ruling Iraqi parties and armed groups, many close to Iran.

The organizer of Monday’s demonstration in Copenhagen stomped on the Quran and set it alight in a tin foil tray next to the Iraqi flag on the ground.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that people who desecrate the Quran should face the “most severe punishment.”