The organiser of a pro-Iran hate rally in London met the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to give him a dossier on UK Islamophobia.
Massoud Shadjareh, co-founder and chair of the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), claimed to have met the former Supreme Leader when discussing a report entitled “Environment of Hate: The New Normal for British Muslims in the UK”.
Mr Shadjareh, who has been organising and promoting a demonstration outside Parliament to celebrate Al Quds Day on Sunday, claimed he had been summoned by the late Ayatollah to explain the findings in the IHRC’s report.
Recalling the meeting, Mr Shadjareh told an audience: “We did a report about Islamophobia. How the environment is created by politicians, by the media, and in that environment, people become so bad that even sometimes themselves get shocked that ‘I’ve become so racist’.
“I was asked to explain this research, this book, to Ayatollah Khamenei and in the small gathering, I explained the whole findings of this.”
Khamenei listened “very tentatively,” an inspired Mr Shadjareh said, before turning to the IHRC chair and telling him: “This is because they want to destroy your confidence in yourselves as Muslims and in your deen. Don’t let it happen.”
Mr Shadjareh, who was born in Iran in the 1970s and moved to the UK aged 16, had planned a march for Sunday, but it was ultimately banned by the Government to prevent “serious public disorder”, Shabana Mahmood said.
“Should a stationary demonstration proceed, the police will be able to apply strict conditions. I expect to see the full force of the law applied to anyone spreading hatred and division instead of exercising their right to peaceful protest,” the Home Secretary added.
Massoud Shadjareh, the organiser of a pro-Iran hate rally in London, met the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to give him a dossier on UK Islamophobia
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Al Quds Day has traditionally been held on the last Friday of Ramadan since 1979, to express support for Palestinians
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Organisers have claimed the pro-Palestinian rally will be a peaceful event, but Labour MPs and peers have described it as a “hate march”. The IHRC said it “strongly condemned” the decision to ban its march, but confirmed it would continue with a static protest.
Some 12,000 people are anticipated at the demonstration, with rival protesters expected to occupy the opposite side of the River Thames. Police are aiming to use the river as a barrier.
Mr Shadjareh is a known supporter of Khamenei, and he revealed during the speech how the Ayatollah’s words had inspired him.
“Day in, day out, when these Zionists and neocons are attacking us, abusing us, writing and demonising us, is because they want to remove this confidence from you. Don’t allow it.
Massoud Shadjareh has previously appeared in footage speaking in front of a plaque depicting former Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
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“Our confidence comes in the fact that we have got the most powerful entity backing us and guiding us, and this is why we are here, and this is why we will be victorious if we unite.”
Mr Shadjareh appeared in social media videos this week, standing in front of a plaque depicting the late Khamenei who was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes at the start of the Iranian conflict, shouting: “We are all Palestinian! We are all Lebanese! We are all Iranian!”
He has also been captured wearing the Hezbollah flag, and, in 2008, co-authored a paper in which he wrote: “We are all Hezbollah”.
He also once reportedly revealed that he mourned the death of the first Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, more than his own father.
Kasra Aarabi, of United Against Nuclear Iran, said: “It is deeply concerning that someone who has shared these platforms can then be allowed to organise a march on British streets, at the same time the IRGC is proactively plotting terror in the UK against British citizens.”
But Mr Shadjareh is not alone in his admiration for the Iranian regime. IHRC spokesman Faisal Bodi said he would “happily” hold up a picture of the former Supreme Leader.
“I would rather hold a picture of the Ayatollah than Keir Starmer or Donald Trump. He was a man of principle, a man of integrity, a man who stood for justice,” he said.
“In the same way, I would happily hold a picture of Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X and many other towering personalities.”