Baghdad, Iraq - Thousands of followers of firebrand Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took to the streets in major cities across Iraq on Friday to denounce the burning of a Quran during a recent protest in Sweden. The demonstrators, who expressed their outrage by burning Swedish flags and rainbow LGBTQ+ pride flags, called for the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq.

The rallies, held in the capital city of Baghdad and the southern city of Basra, witnessed fervent chants of "Yes, yes to Islam" and "No, no to the devil." Addressing the crowds in a speech delivered in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, Friday prayers preacher Sayyid Sattar Batat urged Iraqi authorities to consider severing diplomatic ties with Sweden and expelling the Swedish ambassador, if deemed necessary.

These protests followed a previous incident where hundreds of demonstrators briefly stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad. The catalyst for these demonstrations occurred on Wednesday when a man, identifying himself as a refugee from Iraq in Swedish media, burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm.

According to an Iraqi security official, the man responsible for the act was revealed to be an Iraqi Christian who had previously fought as part of a Christian unit within the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of predominantly Shiite militias that were integrated into Iraq's armed forces in 2016. The official spoke anonymously due to regulations.

The Swedish police authorized the Quran burning protest, citing freedom of speech, after a previous decision to ban a similar demonstration was overturned by a Swedish court.

The timing of the incident, which occurred during the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, led to widespread condemnation within the Muslim world. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan commented on Thursday, suggesting that this incident could pose a hurdle for Sweden's aspirations of NATO membership.

Iraqi officials have now called upon Sweden to extradite the individual responsible for burning the Quran to face prosecution in Iraq.

The situation continues to develop, and tensions remain high between Iraq and Sweden, with Iraqi demonstrators demanding justice and expressing their deep concerns over the desecration of religious texts.