Two United States-based mosques that have faced scrutiny for their ties to Iran held formal events to “honor” Ayatollah Khamenei after U.S. military forces this weekend, including one mosque in Northern Virginia that referred to Khamenei as “our leader.”Â
Located in Manassas, Virginia, and Dearborn Heights, Michigan, the mosques both publicly advertised events eulogizing the slain leader. In a flyer for the “Potluck Iftar” honoring Khamenei, which is a ceremony where Muslims break their Ramadan fast, the Manassass Mosque, which has faced questions over alleged ties to Iran, referred to Khamenei as “our leader.” Meanwhile, at the Islamic House of Wisdom (IHW) in Dearborn Heights, which has also faced scrutiny over its ties to Iran, the center’s Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi called the U.S. military offensive “evil” and argued that it was based on false-pretenses.Â
“You promised that America First, and now we ended up to have Netanyahu first,” the Michigan-based Imam told his congregants after the attacks this weekend. “Now we realize that all their talk about nuclear [unintelligible] was a joke, it didn’t even exist. From the beginning talking about regime change, we want to change, because we don’t like it. So, starting an illegal â illegal war â and then go and bomb the house of the leader of the country. Where is justification for this? Where is their reason for this, at all?”
The Michigan-based Islamic worship center and its Imam also touted talking points from Iranian state media and officials that have not yet been confirmed, claiming hundreds of young girls were killed by a missile strike on a school in Iran. Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for Irans health ministry, said Saturday that 60 young children were killed and 80 injured, but by Sunday Iranian officials were saying the death toll had risen to about 150, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) posted on X on Monday that the alleged death toll was now as high as 168.Â
According to The Guardian, Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, indicated they were “aware of reports concerning civilian harm resulting from ongoing military operations,” adding that, “We take these reports seriously and are looking into them.”
“Why a school? Why not a military base or a missile base? They attack children first. It’s a form of their â again, call me crazy â but child sacrifice,” said a speaker at the IHW’s Ramadan program, who gave a speech alongside Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi. “This is a war against justice, against morality, against legality, against truth,” Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi added as he was speaking to his followers. Â
“Now we realize that all their talk about nuclear [unintelligible] was a joke, it didn’t even exist. From the beginning talking about we want to change, because we don’t like it,” the Imam continued.
Both the Manassas Mosque and the IWH were listed in a July 2023 letter that Congressional Republicans sent to former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former Director of National Intelligence during the Biden administration, Â The letter called out a network of U.S.-based mosques throughout the country that have received financial funding from the Alavi Foundation, which lawmakers said “is a large foundation that has been in litigation for years because of allegations it operates on behalf of the Iranian regime, a state sponsor of terrorism,” or have other close ties to the Iranian regime. Â Â
“The Imam of IHW, Mohammad Ali Elahi, served as the head of political ideology for the Iranian Navy in the 1980s, according to a publicly available Central Intelligence Agency report.” the letter asserts. “He personally claims to be friends wi
