Danish diplomats quit Iran, Indonesia over threats

Denmark's ambassadors and embassy staff in Indonesia and Iran have left the two countries after receiving threats linked to the…

Denmark's ambassadors and embassy staff in Indonesia and Iran have left the two countries after receiving threats linked to the printing of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper.

"The ambassador and the expatriate staff at the embassy in Tehran have temporarily left Iran. This is due to information about serious, concrete threats against the ambassador," the Danish foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ambassador and expatriate staff at the embassy in Jakarta have left Indonesia, it added. "This is due to information about reliable security threats against staff at the embassy," it said.

The Finnish embassy will handle consular tasks for Denmark in Iran, and the Dutch embassy in Indonesia, the ministry said.

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The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Postenpublished the cartoons of the Prophet last September and tension flared in the Middle East in January after other European newspapers reprinted the cartoons in the name of free speech.

Islam prohibits the portrayal of the Prophet.