Police are investigating threats made against the Green Party’s deputy leader following claims he attended a rally in support of the Iranian regime.
Leeds councillor Mothin Ali has demanded an apology from Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke after it was claimed in parliament that he had supported a pro-Iranian government rally.
He told the BBC he had received a number of death threats on social media as a result of the accusations.
West Yorkshire Police said they have received reports of “threatening messages received on social media” and are now conducting enquiries into the matter.
Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Wetherby and Easingwold MP Sir Alec said he was “appalled” to see “the deputy leader of the Green Party once again protesting in support of the ayatollah”.
Your statement today was a defamatory lie @AlecShelbrooke. I am proudly anti-war and anti-racist. I make no apologies for attending a Stop the War protest. That does not mean I support the Iranian regime.
— Mothin Ali (@MothinAli) March 2, 2026
I dare you to repeat your lies outside of parliament. https://t.co/qThfcldx9J
To which Sir Keir replied: “I think we’re all shocked by the actions of deputy leader of the Green Party, perhaps not surprised, given their recent turn of direction.”
Mr Ali called out the statement on social media afterwards, writing: “Your statement today was a defamatory lie @AlecShelbrooke. I am proudly anti-war and anti-racist. I make no apologies for attending a Stop the War protest.
“That does not mean I support the Iranian regime. I dare you to repeat your lies outside of parliament.”
Mr Ali said the event, organised by “reputable” anti-war organisations, was to protest “the illegal attacks by Israel on Iran” and was not in support of the Iranian regime.
He told the BBC he had been asked to come to an “emergency rally” hours after the US and Israel launched initial strikes on Iran last Saturday, sparking the ongoing war in the Middle East.
“It was an anti-war demonstration,” he said.
“It was organised by Stop the War Coalition, CND [the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament] and a bunch of other organisations. I don’t know the names of exactly who, but there was a list. Stop the War is the umbrella for all of these anti-war demonstrations. So they’re very reputable.”
He added there were “a handful” of Iranian flags, but the majority of signs were “masses of stop the war signs” and “masses of anti-Trump signs”.
But he said the next day, he saw “hundreds and hundreds of messages really, really targeted, really quite hateful, quite vitriolic, the way they were framing it, they were taking it as to something that it wasn’t”.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski also defended Mr Ali, and accused Sir Keir on social media of “blatant Islamophobia” and of “smearing a caring man of principle standing up for peace”.
Green MP Ellie Chowns also challenged the claims in the Commons, saying Sir Alec had “incorrectly attacked” Mr Ali and that her colleague “certainly did not” protest in support of Iran’s leadership.
Sir Alec and the Cabinet Office have been contacted for comment.
