Following Continuing Desecrations Of Quran In Sweden And Denmark, Iran-Backed Militias In Iraq Assert: Islamic Resistance Must Confront West With Equation – Every Desecration Of A Quran On Your Territory Will Be Met With The Burning Of Your Embassies And Attacks On Your Interests In Muslim Countries

The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.

On July 31, 2023, anti-Islamicists held protests during which they burned copies of the Quran in Sweden and in Denmark. These followed a series of similar protests that took place in previous weeks in both countries, and sparked fury across the Muslim world. In Sweden, two activists set fire to a copy of the Quran and a picture of the imam Hussein bin Ali outside the parliament in the capital, Stockholm, while in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, several members of the radical right burned copies of the Quran outside the embassies of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.[1]

As they did in the past, on these occasions as well the incidents triggered harsh responses from the Iran-backed Shi’ite militias in Iraq, which called for a general mobilization of members of “the Islamic resistance” and confronted the countries of the West with a new equation, according to which every desecration of the Quran on its territory will be met with the burning of its embassies and attacks on its economic and other interests in Muslim countries.

The following is a review of posts that appeared on July 31, onTelegram channels affiliated with Iran-backed militias, in response to the recent desecrations of copies of the Quran:

Shaajab News, a media outlet affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq, accused the U.S. of orchestrating Quran burnings in Sweden and elsewhere, and wrote, “The U.S. has great economic interests in Iraq by means of which it blackmails Iraq, wants to burn it and tries to do this by every means and in every way. There is no shame in benefiting from the tactics of the enemy and its methods. Therefore, burn the embassy of Satan. Oh, Hussayniyun [Iraqi Shi'ites], you are capable of defeating this Satan. Afghanistan is no better than you.”[2]

About 20 minutes after the preceding post appeared another message was posted, titled, “The Equation in Short,” in which Shaajab News threatened, “The NATO Alliance in its entirety, you burn and desecrate the Quran? We burn your embassies and wage a brutal war against your companies and presence.”

The channel asserted that any other response would be no more than “stupid slogans,” and added that measures should be taken in a united fashion, and not by isolated people or organizations.[3]

A Telegram channel which supports Iran-backed militias in Iraq quoted the secretary-general of the Hizbullah Brigades, Abu Hussein Al-Hamidawi, who said on July 23 – following a previous incident of the burning of a Quran in Sweden – that “Sweden should know that if such incidents persist, we [Hizbullah Brigades] will relate to Sweden as to a government that is at war with Allah, his Prophet, and the believers." The channel posted the words, "This is a reminder" and added an emoji of an hourglass.[4]

A Telegram channel which is linked to the Iran-backed Iraqi Zulfiqar Forces militia, released a series of posts in which it called to stop the condemnations and instead to unite to put an end to what the governments of "the alliance with the devil" are doing. In another post, the Zulfiqar Forces announced a general mobilization of members of the Islamic resistance and urged them to prepare to implement their “special rituals” against the occupiers and their collaborators. The channel added, "What will be after the 10th [of the Islamic month of Muharram] will not be like what was before it." Another post read that slain Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force Commander, General Qasem "Soleimani, deserves that everything should burn for his sake," and so the group vows "to burn them and to crush their heads" and promises that everyone will receive what they deserve, "especially those who permitted [the spilling of] your blood."[5]

These responses from the militias dovetail with the similar reactions that they posted in recent weeks, in which they accused the U.S. of being responsible for the recent desecrations of the Quran in Europe; called on the Muslims of the world to take “a firm stance” against the countries that permit the desecration of the Quran; and even urged the Islamic nation to prepare itself for a protracted war against the West.[6]