Iranian-Australian community members have voiced concerns after a small number of Shia mosques and Islamic centres in Melbourne and Sydney invited worshippers to attend mourning gatherings following the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iranian state media reported Khamenei, 86, was killed in US and Israeli strikes on 28 February 2026, an escalation that has deepened instability across the Middle East.
Several centres advertised majlis — traditional mourning sittings — over multiple nights, prompting condemnation from Iranian-Australian activists and community figures.
They say public commemorations risk sanitising the legacy of a man many view not as a “senior scholar”, but as a dictator whose rule was defined by repression.
Human rights organisations have documented the systematic targeting of journalists, online media activists and human rights defenders under Khamenei’s leadership, including decade-long prison sentences handed down through Iran’s security apparatus and judiciary.
Critics also point to the regime’s violent responses to unrest, including orders to shoot protesters in the street, the torture of women detained for removing their hijabs, and mass crackdowns that left thousands dead or imprisoned — many accused of nothing more than demanding a better life.
Nos Hosseini from the Iranian Women’s Association says it was concerning that there were small parts of the community who were mourning the death of a person who was responsible for the “brutality unleashed across the world.
“He leaves behind a legacy that’s tainted with the blood of his victims and his institution’s victims. We will never see him face the full force of law for his crimes against humanity.”
“It’s a huge slap in the face to the Iranian community, who have either fled from this dictatorship that he was at the helm of, or had loved ones that fell victim to such a brutal reign of terror during his his time as supreme leader,” she said
In Melbourne, the El Zahra Islamic community centre held a memorial on Sunday evening, describing Khamenei in religious terms as a senior scholar who had been killed — a framing that critics say stands in stark contrast to the record of brutality and fear associated with his decades in power.
On Sunday, thousands of Iranian Australians attended celebratory events to mark Khamenei’s death.
The Shia Muslim Council of Australia said Iran holds “profound religious significance” for its community, many of whom sought refuge there before settling in Australia.
Meanwhile, a controversial commemoration took place in Hoppers Crossing, with a local community centre hosting a mourning ceremony for Khamenei, at a time of escalating conflict in the Middle East and heightened tensions within Australia.
The El Zahra Centre, a Shi’ite centre, held the service on Sunday 1 March, describing Khamenei in a public post as a “pious scholar” and the “foremost martyr of the Islamic Revolution.”
The centre framed his death as martyrdom and invited worshippers to attend a late-night gathering in his honour.
For many Iranians in Melbourne’s west — especially those who fled the Islamic Republic — public mourning for Khamenei is deeply confronting.
Some left after political persecution or periods of unrest, and say framing him as a martyr or spiritual guide doesn’t feel like neutral religious practice, but like praise for a regime they believe devastated families and communities.
The memorials have also played out against a tense backdrop of security concerns, after federal authorities in late 2024 publicly attributed the firebombing of Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue to Iran.
