Calls are being made to close a British charity run by the UK representative of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after the aid watchdog removed its trustees.
The Charity Commission announced on Wednesday it had removed the trustees from the board of the Islamic Centre of England over its links to Iran.
It has previously received warnings from the watchdog after an unofficial speaker at the centre, Massoud Shadjareh, praised Qassem Suleimani, the deceased commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.
He had called Suleimani, who the UK had designated as a terrorist, a “dedicated soldier of Islam”. Suleimani was killed by a US drone strike in January 2020.
In another incident last year, trustee Seyed Hashem Moosavi made controversial remarks about protesters in Iran, calling them “soldiers of Satan”.
On Thursday, the Tony Blair Institute, a think tank, led calls for the centre to be closed down.
“The Islamic Centre of England, which operates as the official office of Ayatollah Khamenei in the UK and is headed by Khamenei's official representative to the UK, has consistently propagated Islamist extremist views and hosted IRGC-affiliated activities in its premises,” Kasra Aarabi, Iran programme lead at the Tony Blair Institute, told The National.
“In doing so, it has clearly violated Charity Commission guidelines on safeguarding against extremism. The Charity Commission’s recent ruling on the Islamic Centre of England is a welcome step and efforts should now be focused on permanently closing the centre, which is a direct threat to both Britain’s national security and British values.”
An interim manager was appointed last week.
The move comes after the charity became the subject of a statutory inquiry by the regulator in November 2022 over serious concerns about its governance.
The chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Alicia Kearns described the move as a “significant sanction”.
“This is the first step for all of us who have long campaigned for the closure of this cut out of the IRGC,” she said.
“It makes clear that all is not well, and I hope the inquiry will conclude that the IRGC has no place operating on British soil.
“This is a significant sanction and one of the most powerful interventions they have.”
Last year The National revealed the charity had received about £240,000 ($300,465) — £129,556 in 2021 and £109,476 in 2020 — from the government’s Covid-19 furlough programme.
It was given the funding despite having received an official warning from the Charity Commission.
In the latest inquiry, the commission ruled that the trustees had failed to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities, while neglecting to protect the charity’s assets.
Iran's plots against foreign officials and dissidents — in pictures
UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat has welcomed the decision to remove the trustees.
“In recent months, I've warned often about the threat that Iran poses to us here in the United Kingdom,” he said.
“The actions of the Iranian [Islamic] Revolutionary Guard Corps and its agents have put lives in danger in our own country.
“Its leadership [was] appointed by the head of the Islamic republic of Iran and it is reported to have celebrated the lives of people like Gen Suleimani, the head of the IRGC [Quds Force], who [did] so much to spread hatred, death and destruction, not just in the Middle East, but around the world.”
British-Iranian hunger striker Vahid Beheshti, who is campaigning to have Iran's IRGC listed as a terrorist group, has also backed the move.
“The inquiry will indeed conclude that the IRGC has no place operating on British soil,” he said.
“Our campaign to proscribe the IRGC is backed with irrefutable evidence, and we will not give up until this is done. #IRGCterrorists have no place in the UK, in Iran, or anywhere in the world.”
Britain has imposed sanctions on IRGC leaders but, as is the case with European allies, has so far stopped short of listing the organisation as a terrorist group.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
ELIO
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Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
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Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
The specs
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- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
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What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
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MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
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