The Labour government led by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under intense scrutiny due to its failure to promptly outlaw certain actions. This comes as a London-based Islamic center is alleged to have sold merchandise supporting terrorism.
Potkin Azarmehr, a British-Iranian expert on Iran with extensive writing on Iran’s influence activities in the UK, informed Digital that “the Islamic Centre of England is a regime outpost.”
“The center’s head is directly appointed, and the appointment letter is read publicly during the inauguration. There is no doubt that the center is used to spread the influence of Iran’s political Islam and recruit disgruntled British individuals to be trained in Iran,” he stated.
The Daily Telegraph reported in late January that UK authorities were investigating the Islamic Centre of England for allegedly selling Hezbollah phone cases and key rings that support the Iranian regime. Britain has sanctioned the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.
According to the paper, pro-Hezbollah and pro-Iranian regime goods were sold at a bazaar on December 14, 2025. One key ring had the words “With the kindness of God, Seyyed Ali [Khamenei] is our leader.” Just weeks later, Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei issued an order.
The bazaar also allegedly had stickers of the late IRGC global terrorist Qassem Soleimani, who the Trump administration said was responsible for the deaths of over 600 military personnel. In January 2020, President Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Soleimani in Iraq.
Emma Schubart, a research fellow at the UK’s Henry Jackson Society, told Digital, “The Islamic Centre of England is not an isolated religious institution; it is part of a broader ecosystem of Iranian state-linked influence operating openly in the UK, with the IRGC at its core.
“The UK government is dragging its feet on designating the IRGC. Delaying action allows hostile Iranian networks to continue operating under the guise of civil society and religious life, which is a dangerous blind spot in Britain’s national security.”
The Islamic Centre of England is a registered charity. When asked about reports of the center selling pro-terrorist merchandise, a spokesperson for the UK Charity Commission told Digital, “As part of our ongoing statutory inquiry into the Islamic Centre of England, we have raised concerns with the trustees about materials sold by third parties at a recent event held at the charity’s premises. We take any alleged links between a charity and extremism or terrorism very seriously. Such links are repugnant and erode the trust on which the charitable sector depends.”
Azarmehr countered, “The UK Charity Commission, the regulatory body, has been ‘investigating’ the center for five years without making any decisions or providing updates other than appointing an interim director, but the center continues its normal operations.
‘The only concrete result is that every time you complain to the charity about the center, they say they can’t comment because they’re investigating it.'”
‘The first head of the center, Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, is now a member of Iran’s powerful Assembly of Experts and a key figure in spreading Iran’s soft power abroad. Araki’s family has UK citizenship. The previous UK government, in which Alicia Kearns was part of the administration, even paid the center over £100,000 in COVID-19 furlough.’
Kearns, the opposition Conservative party’s shadow minister for home affairs, now demands the Islamic Center be closed.
“These latest revelations of the Islamic Centre of England selling terrorist paraphernalia further prove why the center must be closed and those responsible for spreading such ideology face the law,” she told the Telegraph.
“The figures being idolized are responsible for the cold-blooded murder of tens of thousands of young Iranian protesters, adding to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s numerous regional and international crimes.”
A spokesperson for the Islamic Centre of England told Digital, “The trustees take all concerns about the center very seriously. We are currently reviewing matters related to the December 14 event and, for now, are unable to comment further.”
The EU announced last week it classified the IRGC as a terrorist entity. The US, Canada, and Australia had previously designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. The IRGC played a key role in something last month.
Pro-Iran activism proliferated in London last weekend. Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Reform Party, posted on X, “When people in Britain chant support for Iran’s brutal regime, our nation is in serious trouble.”
Video footage in Farage’s post and other social media clips shows a mix of pro-Palestinian and pro-Iran regime messages at the protests.
Multiple inquiries to the British prime minister’s office by Digital went unanswered.