Sweden’s Ties With Muslim Countries Come Under Strain Over Quran Burnings

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the devolution of Iraqi-Swedish diplomatic ties, Russia’s latest threat against Ukraine-bound ships, and a rare mass shooting in New Zealand.

Iraq threatened to sever diplomatic ties with Sweden on Thursday over the desecration of a Quran in Stockholm. Swedish residents, with authorization from the nation’s police and protected by the country’s extensive freedom of speech laws, kicked and destroyed the holy Islamic text as well as stomped on an Iraqi flag outside the Iraqi Embassy. In response, supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed and set fire to the Swedish Embassy in Iraq and urged Baghdad to cut ties with Stockholm entirely. No staff members were injured. The Iraqi government has since condemned the facility’s partial burning, and police have arrested at least 15 protesters as well as three photojournalists covering the incident.

But Baghdad appears unwilling to completely ignore public anger at Sweden. Iraqi officials expelled the Swedish ambassador, recalled its chargé d’affaires in Sweden, and suspended Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson’s working permit “in response to the repeated permission of the Swedish government to burn the Holy Quran, insult Islamic sanctities, and burn the Iraqi flag,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani tweeted. The Iraqi government then went further by saying any similar recurrence of burning the Quran on Swedish soil would “necessitate severing diplomatic relations.”

This is not the first time Sweden has been in hot water for its citizens’ defiling of the Quran. In January, Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan burned a Quran near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, leading Ankara to suspend talks with Sweden on its NATO membership bid. Turkey has since expressed support for moving Sweden’s application forward, coinciding with this year’s NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Then, last month, Iraqi Christian refugee and alleged militia leader Salwan Momika burned a Quran outside Sweden’s main mosque. The incident was deemed particularly offensive because it was held on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

The international community condemned Thursday’s attack on the Swedish Embassy as well as the Quran’s desecration and other similar incidents that prompted it. The United States in particular has walked a careful line on such anti-Islam demonstrations in Sweden in the past, decrying the actions of protesters as creating an “environment of fear” for Muslims while also noting that Swedish courts’ decisions to allow the demonstrations to take place support “freedom of expression.” Sweden, for its part, has said it is considering changing its laws to allow police to stop Quran burnings in public, citing the security threats these incidents are creating for the country.

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Russia’s latest threat. Beginning Thursday, any ships bound for Ukrainian ports will be deemed a threat and their flag states considered a party to the war on Ukraine’s side, the Kremlin announced on Wednesday. On Monday, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal, which granted ships transporting grain from the region safety.

This comes as Moscow continued its third straight day of airstrikes against grain silos in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa. The United Nations has condemned Russia’s targeting of critical food supplies, but Moscow seems unlikely to curb its attacks.

Shooting in Auckland. At least two people were killed and five others injured in New Zealand on Thursday after a gunman opened fire at a construction site in Auckland. According to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, the shooting does not appear to have had a political or ideological motive despite occurring just hours before Auckland was set to open this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, which tens of thousands of people have traveled to the city to attend.

The shooting was a rare tragedy in a country with strong gun violence protections. New Zealand has one of the lowest rates of gun deaths in the world. This year alone, only around 48 people have died from gun-related incidents—or a death rate of 0.92 per 100,000 people. In comparison, the death rates of Brazil, the United States, and South Africa are 22.84, 10.89, and 5.98, respectively. The last mass shooting in New Zealand occurred in 2019, when 51 people were killed at two mosques in Christchurch.

Accountability demands. Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday to call for political reform and government accountability. Among their key demands are President Dina Boluarte’s resignation, the holding of early elections, and the dissolution of the right-wing Congress. At least 24,000 police officers were deployed to control the unrest, said Interior Minister Vicente Romero. Reports indicate at least six protesters have been arrested thus far, and tear gas as well as other anti-riot measures have been utilized.

Boluarte took power in December 2022 following then-President Pedro Castillo’s ousting for attempting to dissolve Congress. Since then, mass protests have rocked the Latin American country, leading to the deaths of 58 people as of late January. However, the state has so far faced no accountability for its involvement in those killings. Despite public pushback, Boluarte has maintained that she will remain in power until 2026.

The world’s largest pizza chain has a new strategy to combat rising inflation: selling the cheapest pizza possible. For just $0.60, you can buy a seven-inch cheese pizza from Domino’s in India, the brand’s largest market outside the United States. The low-cost option even comes with a “sprinkle” of basil and parsley. Talk about dining on a budget.