After multiple instances of the blasphemous act occurred in Denmark with the government’s consent in recent weeks, the diplomatic mission made the comments in a statement on Sunday.

“The embassy is shocked by the lack of action by the Danish authorities to prevent the continuous promotion of violence in the form of hateful and xenophobic speeches and insults to the Quran,” the statement noted.

It made note of the fact that despite the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) request to Copenhagen on behalf of 57 Muslim nations to put an end to this flagrant insult to Muslims worldwide, the Quran is still being desecrated in the Nordic country.

The embassy also reaffirmed its great concern over the increasingly frequent attacks on Muslim faith throughout the world and urged the Danish government to take action in accordance with its international commitments.

Additionally, it asked Denmark to stop this “ridiculous show under the guise of defending freedom of speech” and stop additional insults to the Quran.

Extremist groups have desecrated the sacred Muslim book several times during the past month in Sweden and Denmark, whose governments have authorized and defended such abuses as “freedom of expression.”

The whole Muslim community throughout the world is furious about the sacrilegious deeds. The embassies of Sweden and Denmark have been summoned or expelled by a number of nations.

Despite their condemnation of the burning of the Quran, the Nordic nations claimed they were unable to stop it because freedom of expression is enshrined in their constitution.

The OIC has already urged its members to intervene appropriately—politically or economically—in nations where the Muslim holy book is being defiled.

Additionally, it has asked the world community to unify in opposition to these aggressive actions.

Also on July 29, the Iranian embassy in Copenhagen issued a similar statement condemning the insult to holy books, including the Quran.

“The Iranian embassy in Copenhagen strongly condemns the insulting action against religious books and national symbols in Copenhagen and believes that such actions are planned and implemented by extremists with seditious goals and motives,” the embassy said.

The embassy also condemned any continuation of such criminal actions and lack of a decisive move to prevent such defamatory actions.

While highlighting that freedom of speech is a fundamental human rights principle, the embassy said it should not be used as an excuse to insult religions, holy books, or symbols and national values of nations.

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On Friday, Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark, witnessed another sign of violence while the police forces were so sluggish in controlling the violence. According to reports, the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran was the main target and was attacked while the police forces reacted slowly but finally arrested the attacker.

Danish police said later on Friday that it has arrested the 32-year-old man who attacked the Iranian embassy in Copenhagen. The man, an Iranian citizen, had been stopped by an employee before entering the embassy building, police said, according to Reuters.

He will have reportedly a court hearing at Copenhagen city court and will be charged with two counts of vandalism, for violence, and for breaching a section of the penal code that deals with crimes against people with diplomatic status.

This is not the first time that embassies of the Islamic Republic of Iran become the targets for attack and the host countries remain onlookers in a way that attackers continue their crimes.

According to the international conventions and diplomatic principles, the host countries are fully in charge of protecting the embassies. Western countries expect other countries to fully protect their diplomats and embassies while they turn into a onlooker when they should do their job of protection for other countries like the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Reacting to this attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian lashed out at Denmark for failing to ensure the security of the Islamic Republic’s embassy and ambassador in Copenhagen after an armed assailant broke into the diplomatic site.

In a phone call with Iranian Ambassador to Copenhagen Afsaneh Nadipour on Friday, Amirabdollahian said it is a shame that such an attack happens against a “female ambassador with diplomatic impunity in the heart of Europe.”

He also criticized the Danish police for their belated response to the intrusion.

The envoy then briefed the foreign minister on the circumstances surrounding the attack, saying, “After trespassing on the embassy’s premises, the assailant, carrying a cold weapon, started to threaten, terrorize and cause damage to the vehicles in the parking lot of the embassy.”

“Unfortunately, despite the previous official warnings, the Danish police arrived at the embassy with considerable delay,” Nadipour added.

The director general of West Europe at the Iranian Foreign Ministry also summoned Denmark’s ambassador to Tehran to officially protest over a lack of security for Iran’s embassy and its diplomats.

During a meeting, the Danish ambassador was reminded of the responsibility of the host government to protect the diplomatic missions of other countries and of the need for the Danish government to adhere to its international obligations in that regard.

In response, the Danish ambassador apologized for the incident, saying security measures will be strengthened after the incident.

He added that he will immediately convey Iran’s protest to Copenhagen.

A couple of days ago such a similar anti-Iran offence happened in Sweden and Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden’s chargé d’affaires to protest an attack on the Iranian embassy in Stockholm.

The Swedish diplomat was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry in the absence of the ambassador to convey the Islamic Republic’s strong protest with regard to the Swedish police’s failure to take the fully required security measures in accordance with the Vienna Convention.

These countries which claim of freedom of expression and observing international laws are even themselves unable to observe the simplest international principle which is to protect fully the diplomatic mission.

We have not yet forgotten the action of European countries when the British Embassy and Saudi Arabia Embassy in Tehran were attacked by some protesters in the country. They reacted as if the Islamic Republic of Iran has committed crime and decided to withdraw their envoys and when it is their turn, they forget their obligations.

The Islamic Republic of Iran once again warns the European countries not to side with the anti-Islamic Revolution protesters and offenders and it wants them to abide by the international diplomatic laws.

Unfortunately European countries in recent days have joined rioters inside Iran through their verbal encouragement and support but they are better to stay away from the rioters and mind their own businesses.

The Scandinavian countries, which have turned into the haven for terrorists as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated, are better to expel terrorists from their lands if they really seek peace and stability otherwise those terrorists will continue such violent acts and will tarnish their reputation as lands of tranquility.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is patient but enemies should not test its patience because they may face a strong response and Tehran wants peaceful relations with all countries but it will defend its rights and the anti-revolutionaries are better to remain quiet because they are so petty to shake the pillars of the Islamic Revolution.

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In the meeting, the participants explored the latest developments regarding cooperation between Iran and Denmark and the existing trade capacities of the two countries as well as ways for expanding the current trade level of these two states.

Head of the Iran Denmark Joint Commerce Committee Parham Rezaee, addressing the meeting, pointed to the good and historic political relations between Iran and Denmark and said since 1691 till now this diplomatic relation has continued strongly. He added although after the reimposition of the U.S. sanctions, the trade volume between the two countries has declined but some Danish companies have continued their activities in Iran despite the U.S. threats and its post-JCPOA-exit pressures.

He went on to say that for trade with Denmark there are several problems and hurdles due to the economic and banking sanctions and expressed hope in the near future these hurdles are removed, adding that even in this period, most of Danish companies in the fields of food and medicine have had good cooperation with Iran and Embassy of Denmark in Tehran has had close cooperation for resolving the problems of Iranian economic activists.

Referring to the existing grounds for the joint cooperation between Iran and Denmark, he said medical and medicine equipment, food industries and providing machineries, providing raw materials, clean energies and also exports to the countries in the region make Iran and region’s market a very attractive one for the new investments.

Rezaee, pointing to the probable openings in the near future, called for paving the required grounds for the surge in exports in the country and developing trade and economic cooperation. He also urged the Embassy of Denmark to introduce small and medium-size companies of Denmark to Iranian economic activists and he also announced that the committee is to hold a webinar in the near future for announcing its future plans and programs.

He also admitted that the trade exchanges between Iran and Denmark has been affected by the pandemic and declined, expressing hope that with the prudence and wisdom of the new Danish diplomatic team in Tehran and its new ambassador Mr. Jesper Vah, these trade exchanges would enhance.

Rezaee also said Denmark can cooperate with Iran in the fields of new technologies, renewable energies and environment, health and social health, raw material required by the industries, petrochemical industries, transportation and shipping.

Then Danish Ambassador Mr. Vahr, for his part, expressed his interest to Iran’s culture and nation and said expansion of close economic cooperation with Iran is of the major plans of the embassy in Tehran.

He said in 2016 and after taking an initiative, a Danish trade delegation visited Tehran which was a turning point for expanding cooperation between the two countries and new co-operations began. However, reimposition of the sanctions turned into hurdles for expansion of trade between Tehran and Copenhagen, the diplomat said, and expressed hope the problems of the JCPOA as well as the FATF would be resolved soon and exchange of forex is restored like before.

He admitted although resolving banking hurdles after the revival of the JCPOA will take time, the Danes as much as  Iranians are interested these hurdles are removed for more joint cooperation.

Vahr then announced the readiness of the embassy in Tehran for any cooperation with the Iran-Denmark Joint Commerce Committee and economic activists of both countries and resolving problems regarding the bilateral trade.

Then the members of the committee and participants in the meeting raised their suggestions and views for expansion of economic cooperation between Iran and Denmark. They also called for the launch of a mechanism for barter trade between the two states.

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In the meeting, Shafei welcomed the Danish envoy and said although Denmark is considered among the small countries in terms of population, it is among the top ranking countries in terms of the quality of the population and the country enjoys distinguished position in terms of having efficient and educated human forces and the development and progress of Denmark is because of its human forces.

He also said one of the distinguished indexes of Denmark is security and paying attention to the citizenship rights, adding that Denmark is of the most advanced countries in the region in terms of medical progress, and the country has enjoyed outstanding progress in the field of industry with having highest economic growth with the lowest inflation rate.

Shafei noted that Denmark accounts for 40 percent of wind energy production in the world, and pointed to the old relation between Tehran and Copenhagen, and said the first agreement between the two countries has been signed almost 90 years ago so they have a long relation historically.

He then said one can see the trace of Denmark in Iran’s industry especially it is obviously seen Iran’s dairy industry because the first dairy factory in Iran was set up by Denmark and most of the required machineries are provided by Denmark. Therefore, Iran’s industry feels much closeness to Denmark’s industry, he added.

Shafei also said Iran and Denmark have had long cooperation in other fields like pharmaceutical, medical industry, cement industry and shipping. He then pointed to the effects of sanctions on the Iran-Denmark economic relation and said although the economic exchange between the two states has decreased due to the sanctions, some part of Denmark’s industries have remained in Iran amid sanctions and fortunately have continued their cooperation.

He said since the ties with Denmark is very important, the ICCIMA has formed the commercial committee with Denmark and expressed hope in the near future this joint commercial committee would turn into the Iran-Denmark Joint Chamber of Commerce.

Then Danish Ambassador Vahr, for his part, pointed to the long trade relation between Tehran and Copenhagen and referred to the 1920s when a Danish company in Tehran helped Tehran to launch Tehran’s public bus transportation system and also to the Danish Company which played a key role in the launch of the national railway system in Iran.

Vahr went on to say that Danish companies are active in Iran like Novordisk Company which has invested over 70m euros in Iran to start its work. He then pointed to using the renewable energies that Denmark is expert in it, adding that before the sanctions were imposed against Iran, one of the biggest Danish companies had been cooperating with Iran in producing wind energy.

The Danish Ambassador reiterated that his country has never supported maximum pressure against Tehran and the country is eager to see the revival of the JCPOA and opening the doors of Iran’s economy and he hopes Denmark would be one of the countries which re-enter Iran’s economy. He said when the sanctions were reimposed, some companies left Iran but despite threats of punishment, some Danish companies remained in Iran and continued their works.

He also welcomed Mr Shafei’s suggestion for the launch of the Iran-Denmark Joint Chamber of Commerce. He reiterated that if the JCPOA is revived, the door will be open for the revival of the economic cooperation and the Confederation of Danish Industry is eager to have more cooperation in Iran.

Vahr emphasized that he is ready for all-out support from Danish companies remaining in Iran and expressed hope that FATF bill in Iran would be passed because it will ease the trade exchange between Tehran and Copenhagen.

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Vahr said relations between Iran and Denmark have always been deep and historic and the best example for his claim is Danish engineers’ presence in the construction of the railway in Iran.

He added that special attention to parliamentary diplomacy will reinforce bilateral relations in the parliamentary scene, and expressed hope talks between representatives of the two countries would be effective in advancing the co-operations and both sides would see reinforcement and improvement of relations between their parliaments.

Vahr also hailed representatives of Iranian religious minorities to Majlis for the meeting and said the Danish Government and Parliament are ready to boost any cooperation with Iran in cultural, social, and political scenes and they always welcome improving bilateral relations.

Meanwhile, in the meeting, representative of southern Iran’s Armenians to Majlis Mr. Robert Beglarian pointed to the historic relations between both countries and stated that the current climate is appropriate for reinforcing relations.

He added improving the level of trade through dialogue between parliaments will always help the relations to bolster, and Majlis is ready for any kind of cooperation for advancing relations between Iran Denmark.

Beglarian also said continuity of trend of talks between both states for bolstering political, economic, and cultural cooperation is very necessary for bilateral interactions.

He added that freedom for observing religious affairs and participation of Armenians in the political affairs of the country is effective in the political, social, and civil pride of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Beglarian also pointed to the colorful presence of the minority community in the cultural and social affairs of the country.

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Nasir Abdul Mohsen Abdullah Taki of Iraq, Sigvald Tomin Hauge of Norway and Jesper Vahr of Denmark handed over copies of their credentials to the Iranian foreign minister.

Meanwhile, the outgoing Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia Tarek Bettaieb also met with Zarif to bid farewell at the end of his mission in Iran.

IRNA and iranpress.com contributed to this story.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – The introductory meeting of Joint Commercial Committee of Iran-Denmark was held in Tehran on Tuesday in presence of  Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Deputy Head for International Affairs Mohammad-Reza Karbasi, representatives of Foreign Ministry, representatives of ministry of industry, mine and trade as well as economic activists.

During the meeting, the participants called for launching a mechanism for barter in order to improve bilateral economic cooperation between Iran and Denmark.

Addressing the meeting, Mr. Karbasi pointed to some major economic indexes of Denmark like creative human resources, reliance on foreign trade, reliance on modern technology, open market and trade with foreign countries as well as production and an economy based on private ownership.

He then pointed to some major fields that Iran and Denmark can cooperate in them.

Karbasi further noted that Denmark ranks 32^nd in the world in terms of exporting crude oil and instead it imports raw mineral materials.

He stated Denmark’s foreign trade volume stands at $120b as its exports are about $108b and the remaining belongs to imports from other countries.

Karbasi also noted that the trade volume between Iran and Denmark stood at $281m in 2017 and the figure fell to $235m in 2018 and it also plummeted to $160m in the first three quarters of 2019.

He pointed to renewable energies, hygiene, health and medicines, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, diary industries and shipping as the major fields which have huge potentials for cooperation between Iranian and Danish economic activists.

He also pointed to the existing problems for transfer of money and lack of banking brokerage, suggesting that the joint commercial committee of Iran and Denmark to prioritize the launch of a mechanism for barter.

Karbasi also called for resumption of Tehran-Copenhagen direct flight. He also expressed hope that the committee would lead to the establishment of Iran-Denmark Joint Chamber of Commerce.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister’s representative Gholamhossein Ebrahimi, for his part, reiterated that Denmark is one of the few countries which expressed its interest in investment in Iran after the nuclear deal, adding that Danish Ambassador is very interested in cooperation with Iran and his presence in Tehran is an economic advantage for Iran.

He expressed hope Iran’s newly appointed ambassador to Denmark Afsaneh Nadipoor would improve the bilateral relations.

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According To Iran News, After the Netherlands, Denmark also will join the European coalition of Hormuz Strait as of the beginning of the next year in 2020.

The Danish Ministry of Defense announced that Denmark will join European coalition of Hormuz Strait as of the beginning of the next year in 2020.

The European coalition of Hormuz Strait was formed in the Persian Gulf, as headed by France and with the participation of other European countries.

According to a statement released in the portal of the Danish Ministry of Defense, this country will join European coalition of Hormuz Strait along with the Netherlands.

A part of this statement is read as follows, “the Danish government has consulted with the country’s Foreign Relations Committee with regards to the participating in Europe’s maritime mission in the Strait of Hormuz and will send military forces to this coalition as of the beginning of the next year in 2020.

The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also claims that this move is complementary to other efforts taken in the regional level including a parallel coalition led by the United States and with the presence of countries such as UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

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STRASBOURG (Dispatches) – Finland, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden will join the INSTEX mechanism for trade with Iran, the six countries declared in a joint statement on Friday (29 November) ahead of further talks between parties to the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna next week.

According To Iran News, Sanction-hit Iran was recently shaken by demonstrations that erupted across the country last week, hours after the price of petrol was raised by as much as 200%, and unrest spread to scores of urban centres, with officials confirming five deaths.

In reaction to EU statements calling for “maximum restraint” handling the protests, Tehran said Europe should refrain from intervening in Iran’s affairs and instead focus on delivering promises under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran’s economy has been battered since May last year when President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The plan was signed in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, UK, US, Germany, and the EU, and hit Iran with sanctions.

The accord required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and considerably downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief.

European efforts to ensure that Iran can keep trading in spite of the sanctions have had little impact.

“In light of the continuous European support for the agreement and the ongoing efforts to implement the economic part of it and to facilitate legitimate trade between Europe and Iran, we are now in the process of becoming shareholders of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) subject to completion of national procedures,” the joint statement said.

INSTEX was born as the brainchild of France, Germany and the UK in January 2019. It was created as a special purpose vehicle to help EU companies do business with Iran and facilitate non-USD transactions to avoid breaking US sanctions against the country.

Following a meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA in June, EU’s foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, said that the purpose of INSTEX is to facilitate “legitimate trade” with Iran for any EU member and that it has been conceived to be open to non-EU countries.

The six EU member states joining the mechanism reiterated that they “attach the utmost importance to the preservation and full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) on Iran’s nuclear program by all parties involved”.

They also urged Iran to return without delay to full compliance with the terms and provisions of the nuclear agreement.

After the U.S. withdrawal, Tehran began gradually abandoning its JCPOA obligations. In May this year, Iran warned it would gradually abandon its nuclear commitments every 60 days.

Iran announced publicly last week it would resume low-grade uranium enrichment at its underground Fordow nuclear plant, a site ringed by anti-aircraft guns, and this was confirmed by findings of the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

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