Footage has emerged of far-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn praising the Iranian regime at the Islamic Centre of England in London, which held a mass memorial for Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qasem Soleimani.
Speaking at an event titled “The All-Encompassing Revolution” — intended to “commemorate the auspicious anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran” in 2014, according to the Stand for Peace interfaith organisation — the 70-year-old socialist shared a platform with a number of controversial figures such as Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, who was later charged with historic child sex offences.
“When the director [of the Islamic Centre of England] spoke in opening this conference… he was describing the history and traditions of Islam, but he was also describing the inclusivity, the tolerance, and the acceptance of other faiths, other traditions, and other ethnic groupings within Iran,” Corbyn gushed — despite the Islamic Republic imposing the death penalty for a penalty for apostasy.
He went on to lambast the “history of grand imperial Britain”, “the rule of the Shah” and its “abuse of human rights”, and size of the British embassy in Iran when he visited the country.
“I respect Iran’s history, I respect what brought about the revolution in 1979,” he concluded.
Corbyn, who has been paid thousands of pounds by Iranian state television during his time in Parliament, was elected Labour leader just a year after he gave the Islamic Centre speech.
The Islamic Centre of England held a mass memorial for Qasem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah founder Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis after he was killed by an American drone strike, attended by thousands of mourners and led by current director Seyed Hashem Moosavi.
Moosavi also posted a message of condolence for the Shia “martyrs” on the London-based centre’s website, in which he praised Soleimani as an “honourable Islamic Commander” and al-Muhandis as “the great mujahid [holy warrior] of Islam” and said they had been slain by “the most wicked members of human race”.
He signed off the message as “Representative of Ayatollah al- Uzma Sayyid Ali Khamenei (May Allah give him long life)” — Iran’s ruling theocrat.
Breitbart London asked the relevant authorities whether Moosavi’s remarks constitute glorification of terrorism, which is an offence under the Terrorism Act of 2006, but received no response as of the time of publication.
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