During the twelve-day conflict between Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which began on June 13, 2025, Iranian regime-linked and pro-Iranian regime groups helped organize demonstrations across Western capitals, which they used as vehicles to express support for the clerical regime in Tehran, as well as members of the regime’s terrorist proxy network. At a number of marches across London during June 2025, marchers held placards bearing the name of the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), which showed an image of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the slogan “choose the right side of history.”
The IHRC’s management has deep and troubling connections in the Islamic Republic of Iran for a so-called “human rights” organization. For example, its co-founder, co-director and board member, Saied Reza Ameli, serves as secretary of the Islamic Republic’s powerful Supreme Council for the Cultural Revolution (SCCR), placing him at the center of Tehran’s theocratic policymaking. The SCCR has been designated by the European Union and the United Kingdom for its human rights violations. Ameli is also a member of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC), which has been officially sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for its role in overseeing the violent suppression of political dissent in Iran.
On June 15, 2025, the IHRC’s chair, Massoud Shadjareh, speaking outside the Israeli Embassy in London, called on protestors to “fight back” against Israel, and praised the terrorist group Hezbollah, saying “we are all Hezbollah” and encouraged his audience to “become part of the resistance.” This alludes to the “Axis of Resistance,” the collective name used by the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies in the Middle East. Shadjareh is also on record praising the late Ayatollah Khomeini as “a torch of light for the whole of mankind.”
The IHRC is also the primary organizer of London’s annual Al-Quds Day march – an event started by Khomeini in 1979, highlighting the Islamic Republic of Iran’s obsession with destroying Israel. London’s Al-Quds Day marches regularly feature Hezbollah flags, pro-Iranian regime banners, anti-Israel messaging, and open antisemitic blood-libel. The London event has also featured speakers from extremist Islamist groups, such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, which was proscribed by the UK government in January 2024, in part for being “an antisemitic organization that actively promotes and encourages terrorism, including praising and celebrating the appalling 7 October attacks.”
Far-left activists have also used anti-Israel demonstrations to show solidarity with Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian regime proxies in their demonstrations, ever since the October 7 attacks on Israel.
One of the groups behind London’s pro-Iranian regime demonstrations is Palestine Action, which has also been declared a terrorist organization by the UK Government for its “aggressive and intimidatory attacks against businesses, institutions and the public.” Palestine Action is also reportedly being investigated by the UK Home Office for alleged financial links to the Islamic Republic of Iran.