by Mark Duell and Rory Tingle, Daily Mail
Backers of Tehran’s murderous regime allowed to hold Al Quds day demonstration in London as long as they stand in one place – after Shabana Mahmood bans them from marching
A pro-Iranian ‘hate rally’ in London will now take place as a static protest, organisers confirmed today after a march was banned by the Government.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood approved a Metropolitan Police request to prohibit the annual Al Quds Day march on Sunday ‘to prevent serious public disorder’.
The event – named after the Arabic word for Jerusalem – was created by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after Iran‘s 1979 revolution to express opposition to Israel.
It has long drawn heavy criticism, which grew today after its organisers expressed support for Iran’s former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was recently killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Faisal Bodi, a spokesman for march organiser the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), insisted the despot was a man of ‘principle and integrity’.
Asked if he would hold a picture of Khamenei, Mr Bodi told the BBC: ‘Happily. 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 added: ‘In the same way I would happily hold a picture of Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X and many other towering personalities.’