Students for the ayatollah

It is hard to imagine what university-aged Iranians – many of whom have been putting their lives on the line in defiance of their nation’s brutal theocratic regime – would make of their counterparts in the UK. Indeed, while thousands of young Iranians danced in the streets following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli strike last week, students at Britain’s top institutions appear to be having a much harder time coming to terms with his demise.

Several student-led Ahlulbayt Islamic Societies (AbSocs) in universities across the UK have paid mournful tribute to the late dictator. The AbSoc at the University of Greenwich shared information about a vigil for Khamenei with its members, which was held on Sunday in London’s Maida Vale. Greenwich had previously held a meet-and-greet event, at which bookmarks depicting Khamenei were scattered among sweets. The Muslim Student Council (MSC), which is responsible for overseeing many UK AbSocs, said it had cancelled a planned iftar event out of ‘respect and in honour of our beloved shuhada [martyrs]’. The same post-featured a black and white image of Iran’s former supreme leader. Students at Cambridge, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester similarly expressed their ‘condolences’ for the tyrant.

Perhaps the most excessive outpouring of grief came from the University College London’s AbSoc, which posted a high-school-yearbook-style image of Khamenei and lamented the ‘unimaginable loss for the ummah [global Muslim community]’ that his ‘martyrdom’ has brought. The group went on to remind members that, even following the passing of their ‘beloved sayed’ (a ‘religious guide’ and ‘spiritual reference point’), the ‘resistance’ is far from over. Shia Muslims in the West, it said, ‘must remain aware and ready’. Ready for what, one wonders?

You do not have to support the US intervention in Iran to be alarmed by the students shedding tears for the ayatollah. Under his rule, Iranian authorities violently suppressed dissent. They arrested, tortured and executed those who spoke out against the Islamic Republic. Mandatory hijab-wearing is imposed by law, with security forces routinely capturing and punishing women for dress-code violations. In 2022, 22-year-old Kurd Mahsa Amini died after being detained by Iran’s morality police, sparking the Woman, Life, Freedom protests across the country. Amini had just been admitted to a university in Urmia to study biology. Yet in 2026, students at a top London university openly celebrate the regime that killed her.

When it comes to the keffiyeh-wearing tote-bag-resistance class, many of whom grew up in Kent or Surrey and know nothing of Iran, Islamism or anything else, it is easy to dismiss such ayatollah apologism as ignorance, stupidity or naivety. Indeed, the bizarre notion that Islamic extremists – from Hamas and Hezbollah to the ayatollahs – are a part of some ‘global left alliance’ has a long, shameful history among post-class ‘progressives’. Meanwhile, Britain’s Islamists, who are legion on modern campuses, understand perfectly well what they are supporting and why when they express grief for Khamenei.

Since the student vigils started garnering attention in the press, the MSC has hit back, accusing the media of trying to ‘smear Shia Muslim students’. It also claims that accusations of ‘extremism’ are ‘Islamophobic’ for focussing on a ‘fake issue’ that ‘does not exist in the UK’.

The trouble is, the embrace of Islamist fanaticism is sadly nothing new for British universities. We saw it in October 2023, when students at Oxford chanted ‘Long live the intifada’ on campus. We saw it last year, when a ‘feminist’ society at Goldsmiths held a ‘night of remembrance’ for the butchers and rapists of the 7 October pogrom. No doubt we shall see more of it tonight, when the University of Manchester holds its candlelit vigil in honour of the supreme leader’s memory.

These campus celebrations of Islamic tyranny can no longer be dismissed as simple naivety or youthful radicalism. It is now a fixture of British universities and beyond. Those weeping for the ayatollah know they are on the side of barbarism.

Georgina Mumford is a content producer at spiked.