Virginia mosque pays sick tribute to ‘our leader’ Ayatollah Khamenei after he was killed in airstrike
The Virginia mosque advertised that it is holding a mourning ceremony for Khamenei on Sunday. Google maps
A mosque in Manassas, Virginia, is facing criticism after allegedly posting a tribute to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following reports of his death in an Israeli airstrike.
According to The Daily Wire, the Manassas Mosque in Prince William County shared an Instagram post on Saturday featuring a photo of Khamenei and inviting followers to attend a mourning gathering at the mosque on Sunday. The post, which described Khamenei as “our leader” and referenced his “martyrdom,” was later removed.
The mosque had already drawn attention after reporters attended a sermon the day before Khamenei was reportedly killed. Fox News reported that the event included a framed image showing Khamenei alongside Yahya Sinwar, a leader linked to the Oct. 7 attacks, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Both figures were previously killed in Israeli strikes.
During the sermon, an imam reportedly called on Allah to “destroy all the nonbelievers – or kafiroon or munafiquoon,” according to Fox News. The speaker also prayed for victory over perceived sinners ahead of what he described as the arrival of Imam Mahdi.
In Shiite Islamic belief, Imam Mahdi is viewed as a messianic figure who will ultimately confront Dajjal, a figure associated with evil, in an end-times battle sometimes compared to Armageddon.
Beyond its sermons, the mosque’s leadership has used social media to promote several anti-Israel demonstrations. One recent post supported a “Stop the War in Iran” protest scheduled for Monday evening in Washington, D.C.
The demonstration is reportedly being organized alongside a number of left-leaning groups, including the D.C. branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Code Pink, and the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America.
The Daily Wire also reported that the Manassas Mosque has received funding from the Alavi Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in New York City that has faced scrutiny over alleged ties to the Iranian government.
In 2009, the foundation’s former president, Farshid Jahedi, was indicted on charges related to the destruction of documents subpoenaed by a grand jury investigating links between the foundation and Bank Melli Iran, as well as ownership of a Manhattan office building. Jahedi later pleaded guilty in 2010 and was sentenced to three months in prison and fined $3,000.
The Manhattan skyscraper connected to the case, located on Fifth Avenue and built by the foundation, was later determined by the U.S. Department of Justice to have functioned as a front for the Iranian government. In 2017, a jury ruled that the U.S. government could seize the 36-story building, although the nonprofit still maintains its headquarters there.
In 2023, nine Republican members of Congress asked the attorney general and the director of national intelligence under President Joe Biden to investigate the Manassas Mosque. As reported by Fox News, the lawmakers said the mosque had received roughly $200,000 from the Alavi Foundation and argued it “appears to be part of a network of regime-sponsored mosques acting as agents for a foreign adversary.”
It is unclear whether the Biden administration pursued a formal investigation into those claims.
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