Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called its envoys of Sweden and Denmark in Tehran to protest the desecration of the Koran in the two countries, as the official IRNA news agency reported today, Sunday.

The director of the human rights department at the ministry condemned the “continuation of brazen and abominable deeds” of insulting the holy book of Muslims in the two European countries, the state news agency IRNA reported.

The official referred to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s recent statement that “supporting criminals and desecrating the Holy Quran it is a form of war against the Islamic world.”

He said freedom of expression comes with “certain duties and responsibilities,” urging envoys to “respect international obligations based on articles 19 and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

Burning copies have taken place, in the summer, in Sweden and Denmark, with the governments of the two Nordic countries to consider taking legal actionto limit such actions, in an effort to de-escalate tensions with many Muslim countries.

Anti-Islamic demonstrations sparked a wave of protests and diplomatic tension with the Middle East. Stockholm and Copenhagen have condemned these acts, but for now they cannot stop them because they fall under freedom of expression laws.

On Thursday, Sweden’s security agency, (SAPO), announced it was raising its assessment of the level threat against Sweden at 4 on a scale of 5 amid growing international tension and in the wake of burning copies of the Koran at protests in the Nordic country.

“The threat against Sweden has gradually changed and also the threat of attacks by actors of violent Islam has increased during the year,” the security service said in a statement.

SAPO clarified that Sweden had gone from being a legitimate target of terrorist attacks to a priority target.