Anas Sarwar 'embarrassed' by father's pro-Khamenei posts

Anas Sarwar said Mohammad Sarwar was "wrong" to post a tribute to Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, who has killed thousands of civilians in the country.

His father, a former Glasgow Labour MP and later the governor of Punjab, described the Islamist dictator as a "martyr".

He said the Muslim world had been deprived of a "strong voice of resistance" following his death on Saturday.

According to X's translation of his tweet, which was in Urdu, Sarwar senior said: "Our hearts are saddened by the martyrdom of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

"The Muslim Ummah has lost a strong voice of resistance. May Allah grant him Paradise. We share the grief of the Iranian nation equally."

In another X post, he said: "In Tehran's Enghelab Square, millions of hearts broke down in tears together.

"On the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei, every eye is filled with tears, every heart is in mourning. Today, Iran has not lost just a leader, but a voice, a spirit of resolve."

Today, as he launched a commitment to building a rail connection from Glasgow's city centre to the airport if Scottish Labour wins the May election, Anas Sarwar condemned his father's comments.

"He's wrong," he said.

"My view is that the leader of Iran has been a brutal dictator that has obviously done many bad things to his own citizens, has threatened many of his neighbours, has funded countless attacks, has been behind several threats to our own country here, and I think there will be lots of people who have very strong views about what he was like as an individual, or what that regime was like."

He added: "In terms of the broader situation, look, this is a really dangerous time.

"It's a dangerous time, of course for Iran itself, but it's a dangerous time for the entire region, and what needs to happen really quickly is a de-escalation and an end to the war.

"That means no nuclear capability for Iran, of course, but it also means freedom and peace and security for all the nations across the broader Middle East, and that has to be our priority."

Asked if he found the situation with his father difficult, he said: "It's not difficult at all. I have my view, he has his. He expresses a view, I disagree with it, deeply disagree with it.

"But I'm a 42-year-old man, and what people say, or their fathers say, I'm sure many of us get embarrassed by what our old man says, often in normal life, never mind publicly."

Khamenei is believed to have sanctioned the recent brutal crackdown of protesting Iranians, over the failure of the economy, which human rights groups said left at least 6,488 protesters dead and another 53,700 in detention.

Mr Sarwar also told reporters that he had not spoken to his father about his comments.

It comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer has granted the US permission to use its military base in Diego Garcia to target Iran, following the Labour leader's initial refusal to do so.

On Sunday, Sir Keir said US forces would be allowed to operate from British bases against Iran, but only in a limited role targeting missile sites.

The Scottish Labour leader, who has called for the Prime Minister to resign, appeared to back the move, given attacks on neighbouring countries including the UAE and Bahrain, where thousands of British citizens are.

He said: "We do have a duty to make sure we are protecting our allies, protecting our infrastructure, protecting our citizens in these nations and beyond.

"So, supporting defensive operations, I think, is the right thing to do, but it's also right that the UK is not part of any offensive action."