Iraq today expelled Sweden’s ambassador to Baghdad in protest of the planned burning of the Koran in Stockholm which led hundreds of protesters to storm and set fire to the Swedish embassy in the Iraqi capital.

A statement from the Iraqi government added that Baghdad also recalls its charge d’affaires in Sweden and Iraq’s state news agency reported that Iraq had suspended Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson’s license to operate on Iraqi soil.

Protesters in Sweden also requested they received permission from the Swedish police to burn the Korani outside the Iraqi embassy today.

Protesters kicked and partially destroyed a book they said was a copy of the Koranbut they left the area without setting it on fire. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said embassy staff were safe but Iraqi authorities had failed in their responsibility to protect the embassy under the Vienna Convention.

The Iraqi government strongly condemned the burning of the Swedish embassy, ​​according to a statement from the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who said security had been breached and was committed to protecting diplomatic missions.

But Baghdad also informed”the Swedish government that any repetition of the incident with the burning of the holy Koran on Swedish soil will necessitate the severance of diplomatic relations“, says the announcement.

The decision to recall the charge d’affaires in Sweden was made while the protest in Stockholm had begun but before the protesters left without burning the Koran.

Billstrom said the embassy raid was “totally unacceptable and the government strongly condemns these attacks“, He added: “The government is in contact with Iraqi representatives at a high level to express our disappointment».

Today’s demonstration was called by supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, protesting the second planned Koran burning in Sweden in as many weeks, according to a popular group on the Telegram app linked to the influential cleric and other Sadr-aligned media outlets.

Sadr has hundreds of thousands of supporters whom he has called on to take to the streets at times, such as last summer when they occupied Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and engaged in deadly clashes.