Stockholm

The New York Times reported that a Swedish citizen, who according to the paper has been working for the European Union's diplomatic corps, had been imprisoned in Iran for more than 500 days.

The decision to appoint a commission met with immediate scepticism from several political parties, including the government's support party, the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

Sweden's SAPO security service raised the terrorist alert from 3 to 4 on a scale from 1-5, reflecting a high threat.

After objecting for a year to Sweden’s bid to join NATO, Turkey finally relented. But tensions are still high, with recent Quran burnings, Kurdish groups, and Turkey’s EU membership bid at the center

Sweden and Denmark have seen a string of protests in recent weeks, in which copies of the Quran were burned or otherwise damaged.

Criticizing a religion or religious symbols is not punishable in Sweden; this falls under freedom of expression which is protected under the constitution.

Aliya and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer expressed strong condemnation of the woman's intention to burn the Torah.

"We can see how Russia-backed actors are amplifying incorrect statements such as that the Swedish state is behind the desecration of holy scriptures," Carl-Oskar Bohlin said.

Ankara accuses Stockholm of doing too little against people Turkey sees as terrorists, mainly members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.