At least six mosques in Britain sympathetic to Iran’s regime mourned the death of the EU and US-sanctioned terrorist Qasem Soleimani, Tehran’s most powerful military commander, when he was assassinated in a targeted killing by a US drone in 2020.
Soleimani oversaw terrorist operations against Israel. He was responsible for the killing of over 600 American military personnel, according to former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The London Jewish Chronicle’s investigative reporter David Rose on Thursday first broke the story about the UK-based mosques mourning Solemani’s death.
He wrote that “School children were given special classes in praise of Iranian terrorist mastermind Qasem Soleimani at British mosques."
Rose added that the “mosques in London, Luton, Birmingham and Manchester, which have charitable status and benefit from UK tax breaks, organized the events including at least two where children were encouraged to learn about Soleimani’s life.”
“The mosques in London, Luton, Birmingham and Manchester, which have charitable status and benefit from UK tax breaks, organized the events including at least two where children were encouraged to learn about Soleimani’s life.”
David Rose
According to the Jewish Chronicle report, “UK-registered charity, Majlis e Ulama e Europe, a network of Shia mosques and scholars closely linked to Iran, also issued a statement condemning the attack that killed him.”
Soleimani was in charge of the elite Quds Force, an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The US has sanctioned the IRGC and the American State Department has classified Iran as the world’s worst state-sponsor of terrorism. The United Kingdom is reportedly preparing to sanction the IRGC. According to the Telegraph newspaper, the IRGC was behind 10 plots to kidnap and murder people in Britain in 2022.
Kasra Aarabi, director of the Iran Programme at the Tony Blair Institute, told the Jewish Chronicle that Soleimani” was a major terrorist leader, dedicated to the murder of Jews and the destruction of Israel. It’s deeply concerning that children should be taught he was some kind of martyr.”
The Jewish Chronicle wrote that the “children’s events took place the weekend after Soleimani was killed in 2020. In a post on social media, one teacher who attended, Aun Naqvi, is shown standing holding a picture of Soleimani with children sitting at his feet.”
Naqvi wrote that it is “essential we use our madressas to teach our children about our Shahuda [martyrs] and our leaders”.Posts from Naqvi showed pictures of Soleimani were held by children captioned “General Soleimani Anti-Zionism”.
The Jewish Chronicle reported that teenagers stood in Luton in front of a picture of Soleimani with the slogan: “If death is inevitable then laying down your life for God is the best death”.
According to the weekly paper, "Other leaflets and online posts highlight similar events at the Idara-e-Jaaferiya mosque in Tooting, South London, and in Hammersmith, West London, where students heard speeches from Iranian officials. In Manchester, the Islamic Institute said it was holding a 'commemoration of the martyrs' killed by 'the aggressor and criminal US regime."'
"Honoring beloved martyrs"
The Imam Reza Centre in Birmingham announced said it was honoring “our beloved martyrs” Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, a second terrorist commander, who was killed in the same US drone attack, noted the Jewish Chronicle.
The Jewish Chronicle reported that " Photographs also show children at a vigil, organized by the Islamic Centre of England (ICE), in Central London where Soleimani was described as one of the great soldiers of Islam."'
Partnerships between Iran’s regime and German cities are facing intense criticism and scrutiny as well.
Israeli Brig.-Gen (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, a former Foreign Ministry director-general, told the Jerusalem Post that the mayor of the German city of Freiburg, Martin Horn, should pull the plug on Freiburg's municipal partnership with the Iranian city of Isfahan.
“Having a twin city [partnership] controlled by the Iranian regime that executes protesters and mobilizes the world to wipe Israel off the map can’t be explained by a German city. That should not have happened.”
When asked about German civil servant Michael Blume, who is assigned to combat hatred of Israel in Freiburg, Kuperwasser said "those who stand behind Freiburg and Isfahan partnership can't be considered as people who act against antisemitism."
Blume has failed to call for the end of the partnership, according to the prominent Jewish human rights organization Simon Wiesenthal Center. Kuperwasser said the alleged antisemitic official Blume should call on Horn to end the partnership.
The Post reported on Monday that a German regional court in Hamburg determined, in a landmark ruling, that Blume can be classified as antisemitic due to his anti-Israel activities. Post press queries to Horn and Blume went unanswered.
Kuperwasser added that Germany should sanction the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
“The IRGC is a terror organization, especially against Israelis and dissidents of the Iranian regime,“ continued Kuperwasser, who was the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence and is currently affiliated with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
German-Iranian dissidents have urged Horn to end the partnership. The dissidents have also repeatedly called on the city of Hamburg to shut down the Iranian regime-controlled Islamic Center of Hamburg and the Blue Mosque because of their support for Soleimani.