AN assailant threw a Molotov cocktail at Sweden’s embassy in Beirut, causing no casualties, Stockholm’s foreign minister and a diplomatic source said today, amid anger over recent Quran desecrations.

“We confirm there was a Molotov cocktail thrown at the facade of our embassy yesterday evening, which did not explode,” a diplomatic source at the embassy said, requesting anonymity over lack of authorisation to talk to the media.

The “perpetrator managed to run away”, the source said.

Tensions have flared between Sweden and Muslim countries following several protests involving public desecrations of the Quran in Stockholm – including setting pages alight.

Multi-confessional Lebanon saw protests at mosques, while the head of the powerful pro-Iran Shia Muslim group Hezbollah called for the Swedish ambassador to be expelled.

Lebanese security forces had bolstered measures around the embassy in downtown Beirut for fear of attacks.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said “it was sheer luck no one was injured” in yesterday’s attack, and that staff are safe.

“The incident is being investigated,” he said in a statement today, adding that “Lebanese authorities have an obligation under the Vienna Convention to protect diplomatic missions”.

Late last month, two Iraqis set a copy of the Quran alight outside the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm, in an act similar to others in recent weeks that had drawn widespread condemnation.

Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem stomped on the holy book, set its pages ablaze before slamming it shut, as they did at a protest outside Stockholm’s main mosque in June.

The duo staged a similar protest outside Iraq’s embassy in Stockholm on July 20, where they stomped on the religious text.

Iraqi protesters have stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion. – AFP, August 10, 2023.