Like Khamenei, the Al Quds Day march should be consigned to the dustbin of history

For a march glorifying the mass-murdering Ayatollah theocracy to proceed through Whitehall - when British sovereign territory was targeted last week - would send a terrible message

This Sunday, the Iranian regime will attempt to flex its withering muscles in the form of a march through the heart of London.

Al Quds Day was created in 1979 by the then newly-formed theocracy’s leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. In this country, an annual Al Quds Day march is organised by the so-called ‘Islamic Human Rights Commission’, a group described in the 2023 Shawcross Review of Prevent as “an Islamist group ideologically aligned with the Iranian regime”.

This event has always been about showcasing the centrality of the Iranian regime’s efforts to destroy Israel. Until Hamas and Hezbollah were proscribed in the UK, flags or banners in support of these groups were fixtures at the march. Now, weeks after the regime’s massacre of its own citizens, the Islamic Republic’s flag will doubtless be waved, as will posters of the regime’s Supreme Mass Murderer, Ali Khamenei, emblazoned with the words “choose the right side of history”. Starting outside the Home Office, attendees will march past Parliament and finish outside Downing Street.

To allow this event to go ahead this year, even as the Iranian regime’s proxies have targeted British sovereign territory in Cyprus, would be a catastrophic display of weakness. And yet, at the time of writing, we have seen the same dithering, excuses and inertia which have characterised the British response to other marches in the last few years, under successive governments. Downing Street says the decision is down to the Met Police. The Met Police say it is up to the Home Secretary. No-one seems prepared to stand up and take responsibility.

The specific geopolitical circumstances should be enough alone to rule out such an event, though such considerations do not figure when it comes to the legal right to ban marches. Surely, however, from a security standpoint there is enough of a case to make here. There have been repeated clashes in London between supporters of the regime and Free Iranians, most recently last weekend. The Met could – as they did in January in Tower Hamlets with regards to UKIP – decide there is a very real likelihood that this event could lead to serious disruption or serious disorder, and use their powers under the public order act to ban the protest outright. We hope that the police – with the full support of the government – make the correct decision.