Sarwar rejects father's tribute to Iran's supreme leader

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar says he firmly disagrees with his father's tribute to the late supreme leader of Iran.

Mohammad Sarwar, a former Labour MP, posted a tribute to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei describing his death in a joint US and Israeli strike at the weekend, as a "martyrdom".

Attacks were launched following the breakdown of talks on the country's nuclear activities, sparking missile and drone strikes across the region.

Anas Sarwar described the ruling Iranian regime as "brutal" and said it was a threat to the UK.

In posts on social media, Mohammad Sarwar, who has also been a governor or Punjab in Pakistan, described the ayatollah's death as a martyrdom which had "left hearts in grief".

He claimed the worldwide community of Muslims had lost "a strong voice of resistance", adding: "May Allah the Exalted grant him paradise of the highest degree.

"We share equally in the sorrow of the Iranian nation."

Later, posting a video of mourners in Tehran's Enghelab Square, Sarwar wrote: "On the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei, every eye is filled with tears, every heart is in mourning."

The ayatollah's death has been met with both mourning and celebrations inside Iran.

Anas Sarwar, speaking to reporters in Glasgow, said: "I'm a 42-year-old man, ask me my view not what the old man's view is.

"I'm really clear that the Iranian regime is a brutal regime – brutal with its own people.

"It's a threat to its neighbours, it's a threat to us in the UK."

The Scottish Labour leader called for a de-escalation of the conflict and for the Iranian people to decide their own future, adding that he had not spoken to his father since he posted the tribute to Khamenei.

Mohammad Sarwar, who became Britain's first Muslim MP in 1997, stepped down from Westminster in 2010, with his son later elected in his place.

Originally from Pakistan, he came to the UK in the early 1970s and became a millionaire through his cash-and-carry business.

After stepping back from UK politics he served two terms as governor of Punjab in Pakistan.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - aged 86 when he was killed - became Supreme Leader of Iran in 1989 following the death of the Islamic Republic's founding father, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

As head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he maintained a firm grip on power and suppressed challenges to the ruling system.

The regime carried out brutal crackdowns on protesters and opposition figures, with thousands killed and detained under his rule.

He consistently adopted hard-line stances on foreign affairs, particularly relations with the US, and resisted efforts to expand civil liberties and overhaul Iran's economy.