TEHRAN - A number of Iranian officials, clerics, and organizations have issued statements strongly condemning the calls to desecrate the Quran.

Terry Jones, the pastor of the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center church, had intended to set the Quran on fire on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States but cancelled his plan due to international pressure and criticism.
However, a copy of the Quran was burned by a U.S. citizen on Sunday.
The Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom has issued a statement condemning the calls to burn the Quran, saying the Zionist regime is behind the blasphemous plots.
All have witnessed that in such a so-called freedom-seeking country, the rights of Muslims and their beliefs are being violated and disrespected, the statement said.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that such extremist moves are made due to the Islamophobia in the United States and its government is responsible to prevent such heinous actions.
In a message, Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani urged his counterparts all over the Islamic world to give a firm response to the extremists’ calls to desecrate the Holy Quran.
Larijani also warned the U.S. government that it will receive a crushing response from the world’s Muslims if it does not drop its support for such barbaric acts.
In condemnation of this insulting move, Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani issued a statement calling for increased vigilance in the face of the enemies’ plots.
In their statement, the Guardian Council denounced the vicious act and called on Muslims, particularly those in the United States, to stand up to the Christian Zionists who hatch such plots.
In their statement, the Islamic Coalition Party held the U.S. government responsible for the calls to burn the Quran.
The Islamic Propagation Coordination Council has also condemned the calls to desecrate the Quran, saying such moves meant to sow discord among the followers of divine religions.
The Cultural Council of the Islamic Republic condemned the calls to desecrate the Quran, saying it once again showed the hideous face of the so-called supporters of human rights.
In another statement, the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought said Muslims’ anger will make the U.S. pay a heavy price for such a move.
The Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly said the U.S. government must apologize to Muslims all over the world.
Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani urged all Muslims to strongly respond to this blasphemy and to make those who have made such insults regret their shameful acts.
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Lankarani says such a vicious plan was drawn up by the CIA and Israeli security services.
The Supreme Leader’s representative to students’ Islamic societies, Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Javad Haj-Ali Akbari, says such measures are taken to test the sensitivities of the Muslim ummah.
Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani told reporters on Sunday that the enemies always have plans to show their animosity toward Islam.
MP Mostafa Kavakebian of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, who was speaking in Poland, said such sacrilegious acts are signs of modern barbarity.
In protest over the shameful calls to desecrate the Quran, merchants of the Tehran Bazaar have announced that they will close their shops on Wednesday