Anti-Iranian regime activist Vahid Beheshti said he was inspired to see a show of support for his campaign from inside the country after protesters hung a banner on a Tehran bridge saying “Vahid is our voice”.
The human rights activist, who is a native of Iran, was arrested there twice before escaping to the UK more than 24 years ago.
He has been staging a sit-in protest round the clock for almost a year outside the Foreign Office to call for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be officially listed as a terrorist group.
The banner appeared days after Mr Beheshti returned from a trip to Israel earlier this month where he addressed the Knesset, telling members the populations of both countries needed each other in their fight against Iran’s “terrorist regime”.
He said the “brave people of Iran risked their lives” once again to stage the protest.
He told The National: “[The banner] was hung from one of the bridges in Iran and said ‘Vahid is our voice’ and ‘we stand with Israel’, so they embraced what I said in Israel.”
Mr Beheshti, 46, began his protest outside the Foreign Office last February with a hunger strike, but was forced to call it off after being admitted to hospital in May.
He remains camped outside the building in central London and said attacks on him, both online and in person, have escalated since Hamas launched its assault on Gaza on October 7.
“There are about 40,000 X accounts working against me constantly,” he said.
“The [cyber] attacks have escalated since October 7. Because now I have another crime on top of my crime. My new crime is supporting Israel.
“We have reported a few of them to the counterterrorism police. They arrested a few of them.”
In one of the most serious in-person incidents in mid-October a pro-Palestinian protester taking part in a march threatened to behead him for displaying an Israeli flag at his camp.
“He put his finger on his neck and he said to me 'I am going to cut your neck',” Mr Beheshti said,
When police arrested him they found a big knife in his bag, he said, adding: “There were 120 officers surrounding me to protect me. I was so lucky. I wouldn’t be here talking to you now.”
The incident was one of three attacks he suffered that day.
He said after that the head of the counterterrorism unit in London approached him to persuade him to pause his sit in.
“He came himself here to speak to me and brought all the reasons for me not to be here for four weeks or five weeks,” Mr Beheshti told The National.
“He said then I can come back here. I asked why four weeks? He said for the situation to calm down.
“I said this is a mistake. This is where we are having a problem. It’s not going to calm down. It’s going to escalate. And it has.”
Mr Beheshti said Iran’s attacks on Pakistan and Iraq are part of a strategy to divert attention from the Houthi strikes on Red Sea shipping lanes.
“I am from Iran. It is very hard for people born into freedom here to understand and analyse their culture and the way of thinking. But I know how they act and how they think.
“One of their policies is this: they control crises by creating new crises, to distract the mind of western leaders,” he said.
“This is what they are doing at the moment by attacking Iraq and Pakistan. Their excuse for this is [that] there are some terrorist groups in Iraq and there are some terrorist groups on the border with Pakistan.
“They only do this to deviate the mind from the crisis they are facing in Gaza, in the Red Sea, in the whole region.”
He said the only language the regime understands is “force”.
“This is exactly what Pakistan did. They never expected the quick retaliation of Pakistan. It quietened them down.
“The countries around the region must stop their appeasement policy, which has only made this evil terrorist regime aggressive, day by day.
“I am sorry to say this, I am a human rights activist but we are in a very complicated situation. This regime, this group of people, they only understand force. Nothing else.
“It doesn’t matter what negotiations you go through with them; what peace negotiation, what nuclear negotiation. They have a goal and they’re moving towards that goal.”
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Score
New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs
New Zealand win by 47 runs
New Zealand lead three-match ODI series 1-0
Next match: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, Friday
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
1st ODI, Friday, January 8
2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10
3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12
4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
