US Mosques Hold Memorials for Iran’s Supreme Leader
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump announced, “Iran’s formerly supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei is dead.” The Iranian leader was eliminated during a coordinated U.S.–Israeli military operation that targeted senior Iranian officials and military sites across Tehran as part of Trump’s Operation Epic Fury.
News of Khamenei’s death triggered celebrations among many Iranians around the world. Videos depict Iranians in cities such as Los Angeles and London gathering in the streets to celebrate, with similar celebrations reported in Iran as well. A recent GAMAAN survey suggests widespread dissatisfaction with Iran’s leadership: Roughly 62 percent of Iranians said they would support either regime change or a political transition away from the Islamic Republic. Yet sympathizers of the Ayatollah remain in America.
Mosques in the United States hosted memorial services this week, following the reported death of Khamenei in a Feb. 28 airstrike. Islamic centers in Manassas, Virginia, and Dearborn, Michigan, organized events mourning the longtime Iranian leader, referring to him in promotional materials as a revered religious figure and inviting worshippers to gather for remembrance of the Ayatollah.
The Manassas Mosque in Virginia promoted a remembrance program for Khamenei during a Ramadan iftar gathering. According to the New York Post, the mosque shared a now-deleted Instagram post inviting people to attend a service “honoring our leader Shaheed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.” The post’s caption stated, “Manassas Mosque extends its condolences and glad tidings on the martyrdom of His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.”
The mosque has previously faced scrutiny over alleged ties to the Alavi Foundation, a nonprofit that federal authorities accused of acting as a front for the Iranian government. Financial records indicate the mosque obtained roughly $193,000 through the nonprofit in the mid-2000s, the Washington Examiner reports. Congressional Republicans named the Manassas mosque in a 2023 letter urging federal authorities to investigate several U.S. mosques suspected of links to Iranian government influence. The letter stated, “A recent video of inside the [Manassas] Mosque showed it is adorned with pictures of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ‘martyrs’ who were killed in Syria, a life-sized cutout of Khomeini, as well as Iranian flags and slogans. In 2019, it openly celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.”
Additional controversy has surrounded remarks by the mosque’s Imam, Abolfazl Bahram Nahidian, who recently said, “May Allah destroy all the nonbelievers — or kafiroon or munafiqoon” in a Friday sermon. The mosque’s main prayer hall reportedly has photos displaying Khamenei embracing Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, and Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. The Imam also promoted a conspiracy theory that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated by Israel to “create hatred” of Muslims and appeared at demonstrations criticizing U.S. and Israeli policies in the Middle East. He claimed that “all the plots and the schemes that [Israelis] make are to destroy humanity.”
A similar tribute to Khamenei was held at the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn, Michigan, another mosque named in the GOP letter. Hassan Salamey, a speaker at the Shiite memorial event, said, “We’re gathered here today to commemorate the martyrdom of the great leader of our time, Sayyid Ali Hussein Khamenei.” Salamey further alleged that the U.S. was created by “devil worshipping Freemasons” and that “[I]t is clear that this country was built for and built by the Epstein class and that, just like Palestine, we live on stolen land.” Photos posted on X by Libs of TikTok showed him posing with a variety of Democratic politicians.
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