A charity behind an Iranian “hate march” has received nearly half a million pounds in taxpayer cash.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission Trust (IHRC Trust) has claimed £458,500 in Gift Aid since 2020.
HMRC had recognised the charity as eligible to receive Gift Aid, which means an extra 25p is given by the Government for every £1 donated.
The charity is now being investigated by watchdog the Charity Commission for funding an event where “inflammatory” statements were allegedly made.
Regarded as a “hate march” by peers and MPs, the IHRC Trust had organised the Al Quds Day demonstration, due to happen on Sunday, before it was banned by the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, on Wednesday.
The ban came after the police requested a stop to the annual demonstration.
With the IHRC’s spokesman calling Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “a man of principle”, the group is one of four charities with Iranian connections that is recognised by HMRC as eligible to receive Gift Aid, the Telegraph reports.
The charity was also identified in a report conducted by Lord Walney, previously an independent adviser to the Government on political violence.
Al Quds demonstrators during last year’s protest
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Lord Walney said there needs to be tighter restrictions on charities receiving Gift Aid while they are under investigation.
He said that significant amounts of taxpayer money are “going to potentially inappropriate organisations” due to the “weakness and slowness of the Government’s regulatory regime”.
The peer added: “I think the evidence against the IHRC Trust is strong but whether or not they are found in breach, it cannot be right that investigations can drag on for years, and that organisations can get the full benefit of charity status while they are being investigated for very serious issues.”
He argued that when a charity is associated with extremism, privileges such as Gift Aid should be paused while investigations take place.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission Trust is currently under investigation with the charity watchdog
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Referring to Shabana Mahmood’s decision to ban the Al Quds Day march, Lord Walney said: “The Government’s admission this week that the system is too weak and its commitment to give extra powers to tackle extremism is welcome and overdue. But the test is how quickly and how effectively a new regime can be put in place.”
The Charity Commission also raised the alarm over the IHRC Trust’s “involvement in publications made and events organised by a non-charitable company which receives funding” from the organisation.
Between July 2024 to June 2025, the charity awarded grants of roughly £520,000 out of its total income of £642,254, which were transferred to IHRC Ltd.
Responding to the Telegraph, the IHRC Trust said that despite regarding itself as a human rights charity, it believed that “Israel is a racist, colonialist, apartheid enterprise that needs to be dismantled and replaced with a single state that represents Muslims, Christians and Jews”.
This comes as the Home Secretary addressed the Commons on Wednesday, justifying her decision to prohibit the Al Quds Day protest.
The day was first introduced in 1979 in Iran following the Iranian Revolution, when the country’s leader called for demonstrations supporting Palestinians and opposing Israel.
Since then, demonstrators across the Middle East have taken to the streets on the day, as well as in cities across Europe, including London.
Ms Mahmood said: “Plans for a procession this Sunday in London have been led by the Islamic Human Rights Commission Trust, an organisation that has been closely associated with the Iranian regime.
“It comes at a time when the Iranian regime is attacking British forces and bases, as well as those of our allies.
“It also comes after the arrest of four individuals as part of an investigation led by counter-terror police for allegedly spying on Jewish communities on behalf of the Iranian regime.”
She said that this situation meant “heightened attention and therefore larger expected attendance, heightened tensions between protests and counter-protests and therefore greater potential for conflict”.
The IHRC is planning to hold a stationary protest regardless, as neither the Government nor the police have the authority to ban such demonstrations.
However, the Metropolitan Police have imposed restrictions on the timing and location of the protest, meaning Al Quds demonstrators will be separated from anti-Iranian protesters by the River Thames.
The ban came into effect on Wednesday and will remain in place until April 11.