What was claimed
The home secretary Shabana Mahmood took part in a minute’s silence to mark the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Our verdict
False. The Home Office has confirmed this didn’t happen. The picture shared with the claims is unrelated and over a year old.
Social media posts have falsely claimed that the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, took part in a minute’s silence to mark the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
Full Fact contacted the Home Office, which told us that Ms Mahmood did not do this. And we’ve seen no other evidence to support the claims, which have not been reported by any credible media outlets.
The image accompanying the claims on X and on Facebook comes from a visit Ms Mahmood made to a mosque in Southport in 2024.
Mr Khamenei was killed on 28 February, the first day of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East following US and Israeli air strikes on Iran.
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This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because this is not true. The Home Office has confirmed Ms Mahmood did not take part in a minute’s silence to mark the Ayatollah’s death.
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Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.