Mohammad Sarwar, a former Labour MP, posted a tribute to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pictured at top of page, describing his death in a joint US and Israeli strike at the weekend, as a “martyrdom”.
Attacks were launched following the breakdown of talks on the country’s nuclear activities, sparking missile and drone strikes across the region.
Anas Sarwar described the ruling Iranian regime as “brutal” and said it was a threat to the UK.
In posts on social media Mohammad Sarwar, who has also been a governor or Punjab in Pakistan, described the ayatollah’s death as a martyrdom which had “left hearts in grief”.
He claimed the worldwide community of Muslims had lost “a strong voice of resistance”, adding: “May Allah the Exalted grant him paradise of the highest degree.
“We share equally in the sorrow of the Iranian nation.”
Later, posting a video of mourners in Tehran’s Enghelab Square, Mohammad Sarwar, left, wrote: “On the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei, every eye is filled with tears, every heart is in mourning.”
The ayatollah’s death has been met with both mourning and celebrations inside Iran.
Anas Sarwar, speaking to reporters in Glasgow, said: “I’m a 42-year-old man, ask me my view not what the old man’s view is.
“I’m really clear that the Iranian regime is a brutal regime – brutal with its own people.
“It’s a threat to its neighbours, it’s a threat to us in the UK.”
The Scottish Labour leader called for a de-escalation of the conflict and for the Iranian people to decide their own future, adding that he had not spoken to his father since he posted the tribute to Khamenei.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Sunday that US forces would be allowed to operate from British bases against Iran, but only in a limited role targeting missile sites.
Sarwar, who has called for the prime minister to resign, said the UK had a “duty to make sure we are protecting our allies, protecting our infrastructure, protecting our citizens in these nations and beyond”.
He added that the UK should support defensive – but not offensive – military action.
Mohammad Sarwar, who became Britain’s first Muslim MP in 1997, stepped down from Westminster in 2010, with his son later elected in his place.
Originally from Pakistan, he came to the UK in the early 1970s and became a millionaire through his cash-and-carry business.
After stepping back from UK politics he served two terms as governor of Punjab in Pakistan.
Sarwar Junior needs to look closer to home. His Labour Government continue to arm the Zionist Government in Israel who have murdered tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian women & children, and continue to do so.
That is an absolutely fair point Mr Bollan. Sarwar’s Labour government has stood steadfast in supporting the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Not just the supply of munitions and political support but in the active deployment of military aircraft and tracking technologies and targeting intelligence. Starmer and his top team are fully engaged with Zionist Israel.
Anas Sarwar’s conscience is pretty thin as the UK troops now fully engage in military action in their deployment in Northern Iraq against Iran.
Starmer has taken us to war.and there will be consequences for us all.