The Government is facing renewed calls to shut down a London school linked to the Iranian regime where children have been filmed singing about the deaths of Jews.
The Islamic Republic of Iran School in Maida Vale, north-west London, has come under fresh scrutiny after the Iranian regime’s violent crackdown on its own people in recent weeks.
The school, which educates the children of Iranian embassy staff, has 65 pupils aged between six and 16.
In 2022, children were filmed in the school playground singing Hello Commander, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated anthem that includes references to the massacre of Jews.
Lyrics sung by the pupils on the school premises included “We are your soldiers, sayyid [master]” and “We pledge our allegiance to you, our leader”, as well as “Don’t think I’m too young – I will answer the call” and “We are ready to give our lives”.
The anthem also references an mythical apocalyptic army of 313 soldiers who, according to the IRGC’s Shia Islamist extremist doctrine, will reappear alongside the so-called Messianic Hidden Imam to wage an end-times war against Jews, leaving rivers of blood in order to restore justice.
The footage was exposed by the JC in 2022 and led to the school being referred to the Department for Education’s counter-extremism division.
Ofsted has rated the school “inadequate” since 2016, citing concerns over child welfare and inadequate protections against extremism.
Calls for action against the school – which is just a 15-minute walk from the New London synagogue in St John’s Wood – have intensified following the Iranian regime’s lethal crackdown on protesters there, with leading politicians and IRGC experts arguing that Britain should not host institutions linked to Tehran.
Yesterday, demonstrators from the Persian diaspora gathered outside Parliament, demanding that the Iranian embassy itself be closed.
Kasra Aarabi, the director of IRGC research at advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran and a JC contributor said the school “raises serious concerns about safeguarding and radicalisation”.
Aarabi said: “There is evidence that this is being used to indoctrinate children. In 2022, an IRGC-affiliated propaganda anthem designed to brainwash children – called Salute Commander – was recorded on the premises of this school. In this recording, British school children pledged allegiance to Ayatollah Khamenei.
“This is particularly concerning in light of Ofsted’s own findings that safeguarding against extremism has been inadequate. We are talking about a regime-linked school in Britain where children are performing an anthem tied to an organisation that plots terror attacks on British soil with more than 20 plots being foiled since 2022 alone.”
Former Conservative home secretary Dame Priti Patel called on the UK government to do “all it can to ensure the Iranian Government cannot spread its ideology in the UK.”
She said reports about the school were “extremely alarming” and urged ministers to “investigate this school and prevent children being exposed to Tehran's propaganda."
Travis Frain, a lecturer and counter-extremism campaigner who survived the 2017 Westminster Bridge terror attack said: “The idea that any school in our country would have links to the Iranian state – a state which has proactively supported violent extremism, hate, and radicalisation across the world – is particularly egregious and shocking.”
Ian Acheson, former director of community safety at the Home Office and counter terror expert, slammed the school for “poisoning children with hateful propaganda.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran School and Department for Education were contacted for comment.
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