Footage shows how candles flickered and mourners broke down in tears outside a north London mosque linked to the Iranian regime as tributes to dead supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spread across Britain.
The Islamic Centre of England, which the Express reported is currently under investigation by the Charity Commission, became a focal point for grief, with photographs of Khamenei placed at its entrance and one mourner's voice cutting through the crowd: "we will obey you Khamenei."
Services, vigils and remembrance events for a man who spent decades crushing internal dissent and funding terror networks abroad were held at religious centres and various universities from cities as far afield as London and Nottingham, with leaflets advertising gatherings in Birmingham and Manchester also circulating online.
At one service, footage reviewed by reporters captured worshippers in tears beneath a wall-mounted portrait of Khamenei adorned with a black ribbon. The date of the recording could not be independently confirmed. One leaflet promoted the occasion as a moment for the Muslim community to come together in "deep sorrow and heartbreak" for a man it called a "great martyr."
The Express reached out to the Islamic Centre of England for comment via email.
Kasra Aarabi of United Against Nuclear Iran told the Times: "These are vigils for a man who had British blood on his hands, who ordered terror plots on British soil. That is deeply concerning."
Across the country, at least 15 university Islamic societies held their own mourning events, with several publishing material drawn from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and characterising Khamenei's death as martyrdom.
Outside the mosque, one mourner told a camera: "when one Ali dies, a million are reborn."
Aarabi said the infrastructure the Iranian regime had built inside Britain was now openly active and demanded government action. "They are mourning, holding vigils for Khamenei. It is more important than ever for Keir Starmer's government to intervene and dismantle ideological centres linked to the regime," he said.
"There is a genuine terror threat from the regime and it's increasing day by day. Yet the government has not produced effective policy to mitigate this threat."
The Islamic Centre of England has long maintained it plays no role in extremism, positioning itself as a purely religious, educational and community institution.
That account has been repeatedly challenged. The Express reported last year that the centre had been airing Khamenei's Ramadan addresses to its congregation daily. Policy Exchange, in a 2024 assessment, branded it Iran's nerve centre "sitting at the heart of a network of institutions that project influence."
An earlier Times investigation alleged that IRGC operatives had recruited children at the centre to appear in a propaganda production in which the youngsters declared their readiness for martyrdom. The charity regulator stepped in during 2020 after the centre held a memorial for IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani following his death in a US strike.
