Quds Day, marked annually on the last Friday of Ramadan, is widely portrayed by its organisers as a day of solidarity with the Palestinian people. In practice, however, it is a state-sponsored event conceived by the Islamic Republic of Iran to project its revolutionary ideology, mobilise support for terrorist organisations, and incite hostility against Israel and Jews worldwide. While promoted under the guise of civil protest, Quds Day is intrinsically linked to Iran’s theocratic vision and its ambition to challenge Western liberal democracies from within. This report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of Quds Day, its ideological underpinnings, and its implications for security, social cohesion, and democratic values in the United Kingdom.
Quds Day was established in 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, shortly after the Islamic Revolution. By declaring the final Friday of Ramadan as “International Quds Day,” Khomeini sought to institutionalise global opposition to the State of Israel and solidify Iran’s role as the leader of what it terms the “axis of resistance.” In this framing, Israel is not simply viewed as a geopolitical rival, but as a theological and ideological affront—a Western-backed entity implanted in the heart of the Islamic world.
Over the past four decades, Quds Day has become one of the Islamic Republic’s primary tools for exporting its revolutionary ideology. Events are held in Tehran and replicated across the globe—in capitals from Baghdad to Beirut, and in Western cities including London. These events are not grassroots movements; they are often orchestrated and financed through Iranian diplomatic missions, proxies such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, and ideological affiliates embedded in local communities.
At its core, Quds Day is a mechanism of ideological conditioning. Within Iran, schoolchildren are instructed to chant slogans like “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” These messages are reinforced through state media, mosque sermons, and public education. The ideological current underpinning the event is not support for Palestinian statehood in a diplomatic sense, but rather a call for the violent dismantling of the State of Israel.
When exported abroad, Quds Day acts as a channel for radicalisation. Rallies often feature hate speech, glorification of terrorism, and the display of symbols associated with proscribed terrorist organisations—sometimes thinly veiled under legal technicalities. More broadly, the narrative promoted during Quds Day fosters a binary worldview: the West and its allies are portrayed as inherently oppressive and Islamophobic, while groups that engage in armed resistance—regardless of their methods or ideologies—are lauded as liberators.
This messaging poses a direct challenge to the values of liberal democracy, including religious pluralism, rule of law, and peaceful political engagement. It seeks to delegitimise those who oppose theocratic authoritarianism and to foster suspicion and hostility between communities.
In the United Kingdom, Quds Day has been held annually in London, often drawing support from pro-Iranian groups and activists aligned with the so-called “resistance” movement. While organisers claim these events are peaceful protests, they frequently involve incitement against Israel and Jews, celebration of terrorist organisations, and open support for the Iranian regime.
Since the UK’s 2019 proscription of Hezbollah in its entirety and the 2021 full designation of Hamas as a terrorist group, it has become illegal to publicly express support for these organisations. Despite this, Quds Day events have continued, with participants either testing the limits of enforcement or circumventing them through euphemisms and symbolic proxies.
This raises profound questions about Britain’s ability to uphold its own counterterrorism and public order laws. The continued tolerance of Quds Day rallies has caused deep concern among the UK’s Jewish communities, Iranian dissidents, and human rights advocates. These groups see in Quds Day not merely a political demonstration, but a manifestation of foreign state interference and an assault on minority safety and national cohesion.
The UK has, in recent years, introduced new tools aimed at countering foreign malign influence, including the National Security Act (2023) and the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. These mechanisms are intended to provide legal and regulatory means of identifying, exposing, and deterring hostile state activities within British borders. Yet, despite these measures, events like Quds Day persist, seemingly with impunity.
The failure to act decisively in this context dilutes British sovereignty and sends a troubling message to authoritarian regimes: that they may project power and ideology into the UK without consequence. It also undermines public trust in law enforcement and government, especially among those communities who see Quds Day as a threat to their safety and wellbeing.
Quds Day is not merely a protest. It is a state-sanctioned, ideologically driven event rooted in the revolutionary and anti-Western ethos of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Its continued presence in the UK raises significant national security concerns and poses a challenge to the rule of law and the principles of democratic pluralism.
WBII calls on the UK Government to immediately review the status of Quds Day under current national security legislation and to ensure that events associated with foreign authoritarian regimes—particularly those that promote hate, glorify terrorism, and incite division—are no longer tolerated on British soil.
