SOCIETIES at least 27 universities have held events to mourn the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, according to the Henry Jackson Society.
Research Fellow Emma Schubart told GB News: “We support the freedom of expression at these universities. But the dark irony, of course, is that these students are mourning one of the most violent repressors of the freedom of expression on the planet. So we think that’s particularly shocking.
“We know of at least 20 foiled terrorist plots by the IRGC on British soil. So it really is a national security issue if we start seeing universities’ societies mourning the leader of a state of sponsor of terrorism worldwide.
“Also, another point is almost all these universities receive some form of public funding. So this is another question that we are hoping the Secretary of State for Education and the Home Secretary will answer for us, as well as the leaders of these universities.”
Asked if the events have been co-ordinated, she said: “It looks like, from what we’ve seen, there’s a consistent pattern. There’s one type of Islamic society called AbSocs, which seem to be co-ordinating across the UK, these morning commemorative, honorific events for the late Ayatollah.
“So there does seem to be an element of co-ordination, and we hope that the government takes that very seriously.
“Mostly they’re advertising their events on social media, mostly Instagram, these AbSocs. These Islamic societies usually work together to do some sort of outreach event, ‘Come join us to honour the Ayatollah or to mourn in this difficult time’.
“It’s usually in-person events and statements plastered across social media. Now we’ve identified almost 30 but we have a website that we have launched this morning that we are hoping that members of the public can use.
“You can see if your university actually had a society that mourned the Ayatollah. And if you think that we’ve missed any, we really ask you to let us know.”
On if they should be made illegal, she said: “This is the issue, because the entirety of the IRGC is not prescribed in this country yet. It’s very difficult to go after any kind of group that supports it. So this is a really serious legal loophole.
“I don’t know the makeup of every single member of these societies, but we do know that across different issues, whether it’s pro-Palestine groups or or pro-IRGC groups, there do seem to be a lot of useful idiots.”
