Pro-Iran demonstrators gather for London Al-Quds ‘hate rally’ with 1,000 riot police on alert

Thousands of pro-Iran demonstrators gathered in London for a ‘hate rally’ in Jerusalem and 1,000 riot police were put on alert.

Demonstrators gathered on the south bank of the River Thames to pray and held a banner that read: ‘US Israel should give up on Iran.’

Pictures from the protest showed people holding photos of the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his successor Mojtada Khamenei.

Nearly a hundred counter-protesters were seen across the River Thames ahead of the demonstration organized by Stop The Hate.

While waving Israeli flags, another wrote: ‘Hamas is terrorist’. Police vans are parked on nearby Lambeth Bridge and a police boat is seen patrolling the water.

March reduced to two-hour static protest The Minister of Internal Affairs has banned the Quds Day march planned for this week.

The rally, organized by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), was to take place on the streets of London but was blocked by Shabana Mahmood. due to the risk of serious disorders.

The Met Police are using the River Thames as a buffer to separate pro-Iran demonstrators from a counter-protest that is said to gather on the north bank of the river.

Both groups were told that they had to leave the area by 15:00.

Waving a photo of Mojtaba Khamenei, Mohammed, 29, originally from Iraq, told the Daily Mail: ‘He didn’t come to Europe or America, they went to him and killed his father.

‘I support the Iranian regime because of what happened to us in Iraq. America and England destroyed my country, the same thing is happening in Iran.’

Another protester waving a flag said: ‘I support my country, Iran. I came here to study 40 years ago and stayed. I am very sad about this war. America killed its female students.

‘War benefits no one, it harms civilization and takes us backwards.’

Police have previously issued a warning that they will arrest anyone chanting intifada slogans, supporting Palestine Action or holding banners promoting hatred.

More than 1,000 riot police were present at one protest centre, while uniformed officers will guard mosques and synagogues in the capital and stand guard at the Israeli and Iranian embassies.

A pro-Iran protester carries a framed picture of the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the words “honor and dignity” – London, March 15, 2026

Demonstrators gathered on the south bank of the River Thames to pray and held a banner that read: ‘USA should give up on Israel and Iran’

Yosef, who lives in Glasgow but is originally from Iran, said: ‘What we are seeing in the Middle East is America collapsing and desperately trying to hold on to capitalism. I am against this system. This country should be more like Libya.

‘I am sad, angry and afraid for the future of humanity. ‘This could turn into a third world war, a nuclear war, which is not good for anyone.’

The Met believes more than 12,000 pro-Iran protesters will attend, including thousands among counter-protesters, raising the possibility of violent clashes despite the river acting as a buffer.

Quds Day began in Iran after the Ayatollah’s revolution in 1979. It spread to England and has been held in London for 40 years.

The IHRC said in a statement on Wednesday that it ‘strongly condemned’ the decision to ban the march and would continue with the static protest.

Ms Mahmood had said the move was necessary ‘to avoid serious public unrest due to the size of the protests and multiple counter-protests in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East’.

The Home Secretary added: ‘Police will be able to impose strict conditions if a fixed demonstration continues.

‘I expect to see the full application of the law to all those who spread hatred and separatism rather than exercising their right to peaceful protest.’

On Saturday it was revealed the group had received £458,500 in taxpayer-funded donations since 2020 as it was recognized as Gift Aid by HMRC. This allowed him to claim 25p for every £1 received in donations.

Mohammed, 29, originally from Iraq, waved a photo of Mojtaba Khamenei and told the Daily Mail he supported the regime ‘because of what happened to us in Iraq’.

Pro-Iran demonstrators gathered by the Thames River and held a banner saying ‘US Israel has abandoned Iran’

An Iranian regime supporter holds a picture of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtada Khamenei

The donations came despite the IHRC being under Charity Commission investigation and a 2023 counter-terrorism Prevention report describing the group as an ‘Islamist group ideologically aligned with Iran’.

Previous Quds Day rallies were marred by arrests and burning of Israeli flags.

Last Saturday, a pro-Iran protester was stabbed during a rally in West Finchley, north London. The IHRC condemned the march ban on its website.

It read: ‘Without fear or favor, the police brazenly abandoned the principle of sworn policing and bowed to pressure from the Zionist lobby.’

Met deputy commissioner Ade Adelekan said: ‘We did not take the decision to ban the march lightly. This is a unique set of circumstances and our assessment was that the risk of disruption to public order was so serious that we had no other option.’

Scotland Yard has banned a protest march for the first time in 14 years.

A protest last weekend at a fundraiser for the group leading the Quds Day rally saw chants of ‘Death to the IDF’ and ‘Khamenei making us proud’.

Raza Kazem attended a pro-Iran demonstration in front of the US embassy last Saturday after the country’s religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli drone strike.

In the footage, he can be seen leading the crowd with the slogan ‘say it loud, say it loud, Khamenei makes us proud’. In another video, he can be seen shouting ‘Death to the IDF’. [Israel Defence Forces]’ – a slogan that Sir Keir Starmer described as hate speech last year.

Mr Kazim, who leads a course training maths teachers at Middlesex University, is a trustee of the IHRC foundation, the charity that funds the IHRC.

The IHRC was described in its independent review of the Prevent strategy as ‘an Islamist group with a history of extremist links and terrorist sympathies, ideologically aligned with the Iranian regime’.

It claims to be a separate organization from the IHRC foundation, although they share the same business address and phone number.

In a reported statement, Mr Kazim praised Khamenei, whose regime has killed thousands of protesters, for his ‘principled opposition to systems of racial and political oppression’.

He said the Israeli Armed Forces’ motto is “a creative and powerful statement calling for the dismantling of the genocidal military institution responsible for terrorizing, killing, raping and torturing Palestinians, while also imposing a system of apartheid that denies their basic humanity.”

Lord Walney, the government’s former extremism adviser, described his comments as ‘deeply disturbing’.

Mr. Kazim had also organized previous Quds Day marches. The event, which takes its name from the Arabic word meaning Jerusalem, was organized by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to express opposition against Israel after Iran’s 1979 revolution.

Other IHRC figures have gone on record praising the Iranian regime.

These include its co-founder and chairman Massoud Shadjareh, who was filmed recalling an earlier meeting with Khamenei.