A Shia activist who promotes himself as a moderate opposing the human rights abuses of the Sunni government of Bahrain has promoted events organized by the oppressive regime in Iran, which has killed thousands of its citizens in recent weeks.
Information obtained by Focus on Western Islamism (FWI) reveals that Saeed Shehabi, a Bahraini dissident living in England, promoted events commemorating the death of Ayatollah Khomeini—who ordered the execution of thousands of Iranian citizens during his reign—organized by the Iranian embassy in London. Shehabi, a prominent activist, did not deny promoting—under a pseudonym—the pro-Khomeini events when challenged by FWI, but instead emphasized the Ayatollah’s status as “a senior religious authority.”
“His demise, like other senior scholars like Ayatullah Khoei,” Shehabi told FWI, “is marked with Quran recitation and possibly, some talk about his life and religious thought.”
May God have mercy on General Qassem Soleimani...
By portraying Khomeini—who called for the murder of Salman Rushdie for having written the book Satanic Verses—as a “senior religious authority,” Shehabi lends credence to the notion that he is not a principled human rights activist, but is instead a partisan in the age-old Shia-Sunni rivalry that has riven the Middle East for centuries.
It’s not a suggestion Shehabi takes lightly, declaring, “While I am an advocate of human rights, I also seek political reform in Bahrain and the rest of the Arab world. I have not harbored feelings of rivalry with anyone, Muslim or Non-Muslim. Together, we can all be a force for good. We seek to promote human concerns, love, and fraternity through dialogue and mutual understanding. I have made friends across the board, Muslims and non-Muslims.”
Critics have expressed concerns about Shehabi’s activism for more than a decade. Citing a report published by the Evening Standard on August 30, 2011, Elliot Abrams, who served in high-ranking diplomatic positions for numerous Republican presidents, stated that while the Bahraini government has a tendency to characterize its opposition as agents of the Iranian regime, the facts surrounding Shehabi “suggest that [he] is no human rights activist nor a genuine proponent of democracy in Bahrain.” [Note: The Evening Standard article linked to above misreports the date of publication.]
The facts, Abrams declared on August 31, 2011, “do not, of course, discredit the Bahraini opposition, nor do they justify the ways in which it has been repressed—sometimes brutally—by the government. But they are a reminder that Iran is indeed mucking around in Bahraini politics and that Bahrain has a legitimate interest in preventing this. Moreover, they should elicit strong denunciations from every genuine human rights organization in Bahrain, for Shehabi has damaged the cause.”
In response to questions from FWI, Shehabi declared, “I support all people who struggle for their human rights, whether in Bahrain or elsewhere. No regime has the right to deny the rights of the people,” Shehabi told FWI. “But I also understand the view of Nelson Mandela.” To elucidate what he meant by this, Shehabi sent FWI a link to a video of a 1990 interview in which Mandela was challenged for his praise of human rights abusers such as Moamar Qaddafi, Fidel Castro, and Yassir Arafat by Ken Adelman, a one-time U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. “One of the mistakes which some political analysts make is to think that their enemies should be our enemies,” Mandela said in response to the challenge.
Assails Bahraini Regime
Shehabi is a well-known human rights activist who was granted U.K. citizenship in 2002. Over the past few decades, he is a regular critic of the Bahraini regime, which receives poor marks from Freedom House for its human rights record.
As part of the opposition, Shehabi was a founder of the London-based Bahrain Freedom Movement (BFM) which published the Voice of Bahrain. The organization, which calls itself Bahrain Islamic Freedom Movement in Arabic, is banned in Bahrain and sanctioned by the United Arab Emirates. In his decades-long fight against the Bahraini regime, Shehabi and one of his allies, Moosa Mohammed, another critic of the regime, accused the regime of spying on their laptops. In 2024, Shehabi and Mohammed won a significant victory before a U.K. court, which ruled that the Bahraini government did not enjoy sovereign immunity from the lawsuit.
Through his affiliation with BIFM, Shehabi managed to win audiences with top U.K. officials, including former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and a visit to the House of Lords, as a human rights activist.
In its Arabic literature, it goes by its full name of the Bahrain Islamic Freedom Movement; in its English writings it is simply the “Bahrain Freedom Movement” suggesting the organization tells one story to its Arabic speaking supporters and another to Western audiences. FWI asked the organization and its founder why it omits the word “Islamic” from its English moniker and got no response.
Trustee for Iran-Linked Charities
In addition to leading BIFM, Shehabi serves as a trustee of the Abrar and Dar Al-Hekma, two London-based charities accused of broadcasting pro-regime propaganda. As stated previously in FWI, “Abrar and Dar Al-Hekma are two U.K. registered charities described by the Jewish Chronicle as ‘hubs of support for the brutal Iranian regime and its terror networks.’” The Times reported in late 2024 that the U.K. Charity Commission had begun an investigation into the two charities. The Metropolitan Police have yet to respond to an FWI inquiry, but a Charity Commission spokesperson said: “We have active regulatory compliance cases open into both Dar Alhekma Trust and Abrar Islamic Foundation relating to allegations of links to extremism and terrorism. Our cases remain ongoing.”
A spokesperson representing both charities stated that “Our charities are concerned by your decision to republish matters that have already been addressed on the public record. We question the motive for revisiting issues relating to views expressed by our trustee in a personal capacity, and not under the name or on behalf of the trusts.” The spokesperson added, “We caution you against becoming party to a smear campaign targeting our charities, involving defamatory and false allegations that have been circulated to the media and others, and which appear to originate from and amplified by an abusive foreign state.” The spokesperson did not respond to a follow-up query about which “abusive foreign state” he was referring to.
Promotes Iranian Regime
While Shehabi stands in opposition to the Bahraini regime, he has gone on record praising the even more oppressive Islamic Republic of Iran. In June 2020, Shehabi posted the following laudatory post about the Iranian revolution on X:
On this day 32 years ago, the soul of the Imam, the soul of Ruhollah Mousavi al-Khomeini, ascended to its Lord after a long life that the Imam spent in the realms of jurisprudence and politics, until he achieved the most important goal that any fighter strives for. He led numerous uprisings that culminated in the Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the Shah’s regime in February 1979 and established the Islamic Republic[.]
When asked if he had ever condemned the misdeeds of the regime in Iran, Shehabi told FWI that “Violence will always breed violence, whether by people or regimes. Use of violence cannot solve problems, it will only exacerbate the situation. Use of violence against peaceful protesters by any government is abhorrent.”
Eulogized Soleimani
The day after Qassem Soleimani’s killing by the Trump administration on January 3, 2024, Shehabi posted the following eulogy on X:
May God have mercy on General Qassem Soleimani, defender of his faith, his humanity, and his homeland, who met his Lord drenched in the blood of martyrdom. He had a heart of iron, fearing none but God, and belittling the tyrants among men. The fair-minded eulogized him for his courage, intelligence, wisdom, noble character, and humility, while his enemies could find no faults in him save his resistance to oppression.
In late 2024, The Times reported that the spokesperson for the Dar Al-Hekma said “did not go beyond describing the commander’s character” and that “Soleimani was widely recognised as having a ‘complex legacy’ the spokesman said … citing a US former general who described him as capable, charismatic and skilled.”
Shehabi told FWI that, “As a lifelong advocate for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Palestine, I have consistently opposed the ongoing 16-year blockade of Gaza, which has inflicted immense suffering on its residents. My comments did not endorse violence but expressed solidarity with the oppressed.”
Promoted events organized by the Iranian Embassy in London
Digital records obtained by FWI show that Saeed Shehabi promoted Iranian regime propaganda under the pseudonym “John Hughes,” a false identity tied to his long-standing personal email handle (which FWI will not publish). Searches of archived Google Groups focused on Bahraini and Shia political activism reveal that messages sent by “John Hughes” consistently trace back to email addresses demonstrably controlled by Shehabi.
In one notable case from 2010, “John Hughes” distributed an invitation to commemorate the anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s death organized by Iran’s then–cultural attaché in London, Ali Helmi. The event was scheduled to take place at 55–57 Banner Street—an address linked to Proudrose Limited, the UK company that published Al-Aalam magazine, a publication owned and directed by Helmi—which Shehabi edited.
Two years earlier, Shehabi sent out an invite to a similar event under his own name. The invite indicates that Shehabi a session about Iran’s system of government and another about religion and politics in the country.
Anti-Bahrain Groups ‘Too Often Apologists for Iran’
Shehabi’s advocacy for pro-Iranian events prompts objections from Colonel Bob Stewart, a former British Army officer, UN commander in Bosnia, and Conservative Party MP. Stewart, who has been vocal in the past about the activities of Bahraini opposition networks in the UK, told FWI, “I fundamentally object to the freedom with which anti-Bahrain lobby groups operate in London. They are too often apologists for the regime in Tehran. I believe the British Government should be more effective in addressing and closing down such Iranian fronts.”
Appendix:
Below is a response that Saeed Shehabi sent to Focus on Western Islamism on February 7, 2026, published verbatim:
I have spent my life campaigning peacefully for democratic rights and accountability, including speaking out against the abuses of the Bahraini regime and for human rights across the Middle East, including Iran. As a result of that work, I have been subjected to sustained harassment, intimidation, and surveillance. This report appears to be part of an incessant smear campaign that has intensified since I successfully sued the Bahraini regime for its illegal surveillance in a British court — winning the case in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal. These allegations are part of these current attacks designed to distract and distort attention away from regimes who actually abuse their people to those who shed light on them and should, therefore, be understood in that context. It is about silencing critics and extending political repression beyond national borders.
I do not support terrorism or extremism in any form. My work, both personally and through community institutions, has always been grounded in peaceful activism, civic engagement, and the defence of fundamental rights. I am not aligned, controlled, directed or funded by the Iranian state or any of its institutions, nor do I act on behalf of any foreign government. There is not a shred of evidence in your report to support this allegation, nor has any been provided.
