Protesters climbed through fences outside the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, July 20. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

“The Swedish ambassador’s term in Tehran has ended and, according to the president’s order, until the Swedish government takes a serious action over the desecration of the Holy Quran, we will not accept the new Swedish ambassador,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told state television.

The Minister also said Iran will not send an ambassador to Sweden and he spoke to his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom by phone to discuss the matter on Friday.

The announcement was made after hundreds of people gathered outside the Swedish Embassy in Tehran to denounce the desecration of the Quran. Many protests of similar nature were also held in major cities in Iran, including Tabriz, Mashhad, and Isfahan.