Up to 500 people demonstrated outside the Iranian embassy in Kensington, west London, last night (Thursday).

Led by a group of Zionist Federation activists and with ZF support, the group said it wanted to bring to wider attention Iran’s role in Middle East affairs as the main backer of both Hamas in Gaza and Hizbollah in Lebanon.

Keith Fraser, one of the organisers, said: “People seem to have forgotten that Iran has been responsible for everything that is happening in Gaza now, in the same way that it was for Lebanon in 2006. It should not be allowed to get away with this.”

The demonstration included Jews, Arabs and Christians, as well as representatives from Iranian Friends of Israel and Iranian dissidents who oppose the current regime. Some demonstrators wore masks of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . Others displayed a used Qassam missile, one of the many that have been fired into Israel in recent weeks. The demonstration passed off peacefully with no arrests.