This is the ironic moment women’s rights activists swore and jeered at demonstrators protesting the Iranian regime – a government notorious for decades of oppressing women.
Shocking footage from today’s central London protest shows a woman in Trafalgar Square shouting ‘f*** you’ at anti-Iranian regime protesters and flashing her middle finger while holding a sign that read ‘Women Against the Far-Right.’
Further clips show other activists raising placards and jeering at the demonstrators, with one woman giving a thumbs down while holding a sign that ironically read, ‘Tear Down the Sexist System.’
The videos came as thousands of pro-Iranian demonstrators marched through the city to condemn strikes in the region by the United States and Israel, many carrying photographs of Iran‘s slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei, who led Iran since 1989, was killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on 28 February 2026 – a move that has sharply escalated tensions across the region.
Under current Iranian laws implemented during the former Ayatollah’s rule, women and girls face severe human rights abuses – including being denied equal rights with men in areas like criminal responsibility, marriage and divorce, child custody, public and political participation, and employment.
Women in Iran are also subject to legally enforced dress requirements mandating head coverings and modest clothing in public, and state authorities – including morality police and security agents – can punish deviations with financial penalties, arrest, corporal punishment or travel bans.
Yet Saturday’s march included groups criticising the US, UK and Israeli governments’ involvement in the Middle East, marching from Millbank to the US Embassy to call for an end to military attacks on Iran.
Footage from a protest on Saturday shows a woman in Trafalgar Square (pictured) shouting ‘f*** you’ at anti-Iranian regime protesters and flashing her middle finger while holding a sign that read ‘Women Against the Far-Right’
Another woman (pictured) was seen giving a thumbs down to protestors while holding a sign that ironically read, ‘Tear Down the Sexist System’
Placards displayed pictures of the now dead Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured) as well as flags of Iran, Lebanon and Palestine
Hundreds of demonstrators from Hands Off Iran, which opposes Western military intervention, were present, alongside others from Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Stop the War, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Muslim Association of Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, and Friends of Al-Aqsa.
The Metropolitan Police estimated that almost 4,000 people took part in the march through Westminster to the American Embassy near Battersea Power Station.
Some marchers were heard chanting ‘victory to Iran,’ despite the regime having killed hundreds of thousands of its own citizens – including vulnerable women. Protesters were also seen carrying Iranian, Palestinian and Lebanese flags.
Counter-protestors were also at the march, including Stage for Freedom – who are calling for the end of the oppressive regime in its entirety.
Tensions heightened between the two sides after a counter-demonstrator shouted, ‘terrorist supporters and communist scum off our streets,’ as the march passed through central London.
One man was seen handcuffed in a police van, with a Metropolitan Police source confirming at least two arrests. The van had been stationed near another protest by opponents of the Iranian regime outside the American Embassy.
Police also confirmed that a woman in her 60s was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred in connection with a placard.
The demonstration comes on the eighth day of the Middle East conflict, which has seen Tehran strike Dubai airport and heavy Iranian fire target Gulf Arab states, while US President Donald Trump vowed the US would hit Iran ‘very hard.’
One demonstrator was seen holding a picture of US President Donald Trump (pictured) on fire
The pro-Iranian regime protestors (pictured) gathered outside the US embassy in London, with some chanting ‘victory to Iran’ and ‘death, death to the IDF’
Israel also launched a fresh wave of strikes on Tehran in the early hours of Saturday morning, which came hours after Iran sent retaliatory strikes to several nations including Saudi Arabia and Qatar earlier on Friday.
At the protest, former Labour MP Zarah Sultana addressed the anti-Iran war crowd outside the embassy, declaring, ‘we will not be ignored again.’
Reflecting on the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, she said: ‘Back then, we were told that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. We were told that the war would protect Iraqis and protect the world, but the truth was very different.’
The Your Party MP for Coventry South added: ‘The children of Baghdad deserve to grow up.
‘And 23 years ago, when we marched against the Iraq war, we were ignored.
‘We will not be ignored again, because history proved them right, and today, we raise our voices for peace, for justice and for a world where governments learn the lessons of the past.’
A statement from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was also read to the crowd.
Mr Corbyn, who reportedly could not attend in person, said: ‘In 2003, hundreds of thousands of us protested against the illegal invasion of Iraq, and we were ignored, but we are here today to say loudly and clearly – do not drag Britain into another illegal war.
Your Party MP Zarah Sultana (pictured) spoke at the demonstration calling for an end to bombing in Iran outside the US Embassy in London
‘For too long, the UK has blindly followed the US as it indulges in catastrophic interventions around the world.
‘We are here to defend something different, a foreign policy based on cooperation, equality and sovereignty.’
He added: ‘Forever war is not a game. It has real like human consequences, and US and Israel must be held accountable for their prize.’
