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Iraq's foreign ministry summoned the Swedish envoy to Baghdad on Sunday to protestÌý-burning rallies heldÌýby aÌýfar-right extremist groupÌýdays prior.

BaghdadÌýdenounced the as "a provocation to the feelings of Muslims and an extremely sensitive offence," read a from the Iraqi foreign ministry.

"We urge the Swedish government to stop any divisive actionsÌýmeant to provoke the feelings of religious groups," the statement said.

Danish-Swedish far-right leaderÌýRasmus PaludanÌýis on a tour of Sweden, where heÌýhas planned severalÌýQuran-burning ralliesÌýduring the Muslim holy month of Ramadan inÌýneighbourhoods known to hostÌýlarge Muslim communities.

Clashes erupted on Thursday ahead of one of these rallies, which was accompanied by Swedish policemen protecting Paludan and his sympathisers. RiotsÌýbrokeÌýout when the police ignored onlookers' calls to stop Paludan.

The protestsÌýspreadÌýtoÌýÌýand were still ongoing on Sunday.

Copies of the Quran are sacred to Muslims, who consider the book to be the literal transcription of the word of God.

Several Iraqi political factions expressed anger at the public burning.

Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement - one ofÌýIraq's largest Shia political groups - called on the Iraqi government on Saturday to summon the Swedish envoy, and vowed to organise aÌýprotestÌýif this request was not fulfilled.

Copies of the Quran are sacred to Muslims, who consider the book to be the literal transcription of the word of God.

Paludan, who heads the far-right anti-Islam party Stram Kurs (Hard Line),Ìýhas a long history ofÌýdesecrating the Quran in public in order to offend members of Muslim minorities and spark tensions between local communities. In September 2020, he wasÌýbanned from entering Sweden for two years after organising another .Ìý

Sweden, which places high emphasis on freedom of religion and opinion,Ìýdoes not alwaysÌýoutlawÌýralliesÌýof this typeÌýdespite their deeply offensive nature to most Muslim citizens.

The Scandinavian country is home to around 200,000 first and second-generation Iraqis, according to official figures.