A mosque in Northern Virginia, located near Washington, D.C., held a remembrance service for Iran’s supreme leader, who was killed over the weekend following joint U.S. and Israeli strikes against Tehran.
Manassas Mosque, a Shia Muslim religious center with alleged financial ties to the Iranian regime, hosted an iftar, a fast-breaking meal eaten at sundown during Ramadan, on Sunday evening to honor “His Eminence,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The mosque invited its followers, “as we navigate what our responsibilities are today,” to attend the potluck-style dinner, which began with Islamic prayer and ended in special programming dedicated to mourning the death of Khamenei.
“Manassas Mosque extends its condolences and glad tidings on the martyrdom of His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei,” said an Instagram post advertising the event.
The mosque, situated about 30 miles outside of Washington, was formed to “nourish a community of pious, educated, socially conscious, and active Muslims” living in the metropolitan area.
Its leadership, however, has a history of incendiary behavior.
After the October 2023 terrorist attacks against Israel, the Manassas Mosque endorsed the actions of Hamas. In a community newsletter, the mosque issued a statement explicitly expressing support for the terrorist group. “We stand firmly with the Palestinian Resistance (Hamas),” the mosque’s leaders declared at the time.
Manassas Mosque’s Imam Abolfazl Bahram Nahidian claimed at a 2010 rally on Quds Day, an annual anti-Israel day of protest calling for the destruction of the Jewish state, that Israelis orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as part of a Zionist conspiracy to sow Islamophobia.
“All the plots and the schemes that they make are to destroy humanity,” Nahidian said of the Israeli people, calling them “the most devilish ones on Earth.”
Manassas Mosque is suspected of being a financial backer of the Islamic revolutionary government of Iran.
About two decades ago, Manassas Mosque received a total of $193,000 from the Iranian-run Alavi Foundation between 2004 and 2005, according to tax filings obtained by the Investigative Project on Terrorism.
In 2009, the Justice Department sought to seize the Alavi Foundation’s assets on suspicion that it was funding Iran’s efforts to build nuclear weapons. According to the complaint, the Alavi Foundation funneled money from its interests in the United States to Bank Melli, which the Treasury Department previously designated as an entity that provides material support to terrorism.
The full extent of the mosque’s apparent financial connections to Iran is unclear. As a registered house of worship, Manassas Mosque is not required to publicly disclose such information.
A since-scrubbed blog section on Manassas Mosque’s website featured a tribute to Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military officer of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who was responsible for the deaths of more than 600 American service members, according to the U.S. government.
On the third anniversary of Soleimani’s death by U.S. drone strike, Manassas Mosque posted a memorial piece commemorating the day of his “martyrdom.”
In 2021, Customs and Border Protection confiscated 750 pounds of Iranian-made ceramic tiles donated to the Manassas Mosque for alleged violations of economic sanctions against Iran. CBP later released the religious tiles after the Council on American-Islamic Relations assisted the mosque’s challenge of the seizure.
In 2023, House Republicans issued a letter to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland and -Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines identifying Manassas Mosque as one of four Islamic organizations in the U.S. with suspected connections to Iran.
The letter, warning of Iran’s ideological influence over Muslim American religious institutions, pointed to footage from inside Manassas Mosque showing that the center was “adorned with pictures of ‘martyrs’ of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corpsm” alongside Iranian flags and a life-sized cutout of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini.
The congressional letter also noted that Manassas Mosque “openly celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran,” which brought the current regime to power.
TRUMP CLOSED THE GAP BETWEEN RHETORIC AND ACTION ON IRAN
Manassas Mosque has been an active part of the Washington political scene. Most recently, in response to the U.S.-Iranian conflict, Manassas Mosque co-sponsored marches on the White House led by the area’s Party for Socialism and Liberation arm and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization of D.C.
The Washington Examiner contacted Manassas Mosque for comment.