The mosque dubbed the “London office” of Iran’s brutal Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has locked its gates and posted an announcement that all services and other events have been suspended.

The closure comes amid an ongoing investigation by the Charity Commission watchdog, which stripped the trustees of the Islamic Centre of England (ICE) of their powers two weeks ago and appointed a solicitor as an “interim manager” to run its affairs.

The JC has revealed that the Maida Vale-based centre has regularly hosted extremist preachers and that its director, Seyed Moosavi, the UK representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called protesters against the regime “soldiers of Satan”. 

Last year, it was used to film a regime propaganda video of a song called ‘Hello Commander’ in which children sang verses that alluded to an apocalyptic massacre of Jews.  

In 2020, the commission issued an official warning to the organisation after it held a vigil to mourn the IRGC terrorist mastermind Qasem Soleimani when he was killed by a US drone strike.

Islamic Centre closure notice

A notice appeared on the gates of the premises (Photo: Staff)

The Commission also demanded it put together an anti-extremism “action plan” and, when it failed to comply, launched a statutory inquiry last year.

The notice on the locked gates states: “After receiving the concerns of the community and for their safety, we are saddened to inform you that all upcoming programmes, including prayers, have been suspended until further notice.”

The JC contacted ICE trustee Mir Hussein Abbas but he refused to comment.

Alicia Kearns MP, the chair of the Commons select committee on foreign affairs, told the JC: “Hopefully this is the first step towards closing this IRGC cut out permanently - we need to remove all arms of the Iranian state from British soil to protect those seeking refuge from Tehran's tyranny.”