London Braces for Al-Quds Day Protest

0:00On March 15, London faces a massive security operation this Sunday for pro-Iranian protest. More than 1,000 riot police and hundreds of uniformed officers will be deployed across the city. The annual Outquads Day event running for 40 years had its traditional march ban last week by the home secretary. Now, it's shifted to a two-hour static demonstration on the South Bank of the Thames. Armed officers will guard mosques, synagogues, and both the Israeli and Iranian embassies. Riot squads will focus on the protest site, ready to arrest anyone chanting into Fattos Logan's, supporting Palestine action or displaying hate inciting, placards. Across the river in Westminster, counter protestors are expected to gather, with police estimating 12,000 on the pro-Iran side and thousands. More opposing them, the river should act as a buffer, but officials worry about violent clashes amid rising tensions. Outquads Day started in Iran in 1979 after the revolution and reached the UK through

1:02the Islamic Human Rights Commission, or IHRC, which organizes it here. Recently, details emerged about the IHRC receiving 458,500 pounds in taxpayer-backed donations since 20. 20. Despite investigations into its activities and reports linking it to Iranian ideology, most events have seen arrests, flag burnings, and even a stabbing on a rally last Saturday, police leaders stressed they only banned the march due to severe public disorder risks with no other options left, everyone's on high alert to keep the peace as these groups face off.