The march was organised by a number of groups including Stop the War, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Friends of Al-Aqsa.
The Workers Revolutionary Party and Young Socialists led a loud and lively contingent which kept up constant chants of: ‘Hands off Iran, Hands off Gaza, Hands off Lebanon!’ ‘From Iran to Palestine, killing children is a crime!’ and ‘Trump, Netanyahu, Starmer you can’t hide – We charge you with Genocide!’
As the march was assembling, Dr Huma Shah, a university lecturer from Harrow, north west London, told News Line: ‘The US and Israel are responsible for the murder of so many people, total destruction and environmental catastrophe. Whereas Iran is just defending and protecting itself.
‘Tony Blair has made so much money from imperialist war with his Blair Foundation. He should be hauled before the ICJ (International Court of Justice) and so should Starmer, who doesn’t have a mandate to follow Trump.
‘Iran is proudly standing up to imperialist aggression, with its 90 million-strong population supporting their government.
‘I’ve already been on strike for Palestine. We need a general strike. Long live Iran.’
Maria Bueno, a teaching assistant and GMB union member from Marylebone, said: ‘We must get US bases out of Britain and all countries now. There has to be a change. What’s happening today is like the fall of the Roman Empire.
‘The capitalists are out of control. The TUC should call a general strike. We need to change the system and take control.
‘The war on Iran is an excuse to steal their resources and just more colonialism. We should realise that we have the power if only we choose to use it.’
At the end of the march, Laila Rachmi, a nurse from Liverpool, said: ‘Stop the war and stop the homelessness. Stop spending money on war and spend it on the working class. End homelessness.
‘We need a real revolution. These imperialists have to go. They want to make it illegal to support Iran. But they can’t do it.
‘I’m Iranian. We’re fighting for a new system and new policies that are going to bring people together, especially for the new generation that is coming up.’
The first speaker at the rally in Whitehall on Saturday was Fran Heathcote, General Secretary of the PCS civil service workers union, who said: ‘The Prime Minister thinks it’s okay to allow the use of British military bases to attack Iran. No, it’s not okay. No to US military bases in Britain and no support for the pathological maniac in the White House!’
Famous musician and President of Stop the War, Brian Eno said: ‘The Iraq war was about taking over territory and stealing oil and that is exactly what is behind these US-Israeli attacks on Iran. They are nothing to do with defence. We need to stop being so reliant upon oil.’
Abbas Edehat, from the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran, said: ‘This attack on Iran is an extension of the genocide in Gaza. They are trying to destroy Iran as a civilisation.
‘Most of those Iranians who protested against the government earlier this year are now fully supportive of the Iranian government. This is a war of aggression and the British government is fully complicit. Hands off Iran!’
Louise Regan, Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: ‘Trump’s war on Iran has already killed thousands. Israel is continuing with its longstanding Zionist plan of eliminating the Palestinian people and stealing their land.
‘Yesterday’s announcement that the US can use British bases to launch bombing attacks on Iran is a reckless escalation. Stop bombing Iran!’
Dianne Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney East, said: ‘The bombing of Iran is an illegal imperialist war of aggression led by US and Israel, with Britain bringing up the rear.
‘We know there is no nuclear material in Iran, just as there was none in Iraq. This is a war of exploitation by American power and the role of the British government is despicable. Britain is sending drones to the region and we are told they are contemplating direct involvement.’
Journalist and author of the recently published book, ‘Complicit: Britain’s Role in the Destruction of Gaza,’ Peter Oborne, said: ‘This war amounts to the supreme crime – a war of aggression waged by just two men, Trump and Netanyahu, war criminals.
‘This war is thoroughly illegal, a criminal act launched by these two men, illegal, abominable, murderous and horrible. Britain should stay clear.’
Tariq Ali, from Stop the War, said: ‘This war was started by Trump and Netanyahu. Israel is determined all the Arab states must be destroyed.
‘Now they are moaning that Iran is destroying the military bases in these countries. The only country in the defensive mode is Iran and it is the only country that has the right to fight back.’
Samir Jaba, from Defend Palestinian Rights, said: ‘While this war in Iran has developed for one month Israel has been intensifying its attacks on Palestine.
‘It has shut down the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I’ve lived in Jerusalem all my life and Ramadan has always been a vibrant time for Muslims and Christians alike.
‘But now life in Jerusalem is being suffocated. People have to tell Israeli officials when they leave their homes. Israel has reached a point when it no longer needs to justify its actions. Why? Because it has got away with genocide. Our message is clear – we stand with Jerusalem.’
Gazal Diani, Iranians against Imposed War, said: ‘The scale of human suffering is immense. 38 million deaths worldwide. We’ve endured 40 years of criminal sanctions and sustained economic strangulation.
‘What they seek is a collapsed state. So when people talk about the main desire of Iranian women being to wear a bikini on a beach, they should realise that there will be no beach, no water access, no Iran, if the imperialists get their way.
‘The US and Israel manufacture content to try to fool these people. They celebrate the bombing of Iran. They live in a version of Iran that only exists in their imagination. Long live Iran! Long live the great people of Iran and let this mark the end of the imperial era.’
Shamir Lakir from Stop the War, said: ‘American planes are leaving British bases loaded with bombs, sent to butcher the Iranian and Palestinian people. This pro-imperial and pro-Israel government is also trying to get rid of trial by jury. Keir Starmer’s policy of increasing military spending is supported by Zionists, monarchists and fascists.
‘At the same time as they are bombing Iran they are strangling Cuba. Get military bases out of the Middle East and get US military bases out of Britain.’
Maryam Eslamdoust, TSSA railworkers union general secretary, said: ‘Yesterday, Iranians celebrated New Year. We raised our heads higher. The British government is fully complicit in this illegal war against Iran. There are no such thing as “defensive attacks” in an illegal war.
‘The British economy is about to taste the fruits of this illegal war. The consequences of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz are now being served on the West. If the West wants relief from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz then it should lift the sanctions from which Iran has been suffering for so long. It can and must be done now.’
Tariq Halil, from the Palestinian Forum in Britain, said: ‘My mind today is preoccupied by the thousands of Iranians massacred and the Palestinian prisoners being tortured.
‘Racist settlers have a free hand to murder, pillage and pogrom. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and yet history and our own teachings show that these aggressions are stumbling to their miserable fate. Our struggle can only end in justice and victory.’
Second World War Jewish Holocaust Survivor Stephen Kapos said: ‘The Nazis carried out genocide on an industrial scale. Today, Israel’s war against Iran and Lebanon and Palestine is genocide and an increasing number of Jews oppose Israel.
‘The Zionists have morally self-destructed with their genocide and we anti-Zionist Jews condemn Israel’s illegal wars and assassinations. We must be vigilant in the fight for freedom and the freedom of Palestine. Free, Free Palestine.’
Sophie Bolt, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said: ‘Trump is escalating mobilisation of troops and talking about a land invasion. Overwhelmingly military experts are warning that it would be a catastrophe.
‘Yet again, Starmer has buckled to US pressure. He’s done it in the full knowledge that it will put British lives at risk.
‘Pull the plug on the war. We need a new world order, at the heart of which must be nuclear disarmament.’
The final speaker was former South African MP Andrew Feinstein, who said: ‘Yesterday was the 23rd anniversary of the illegal invasion of Iraq. Starmer doesn’t represent Britain, he represents Trump. We have to kick him out now.’