September 23, 2022
The Iranian regime and media showed little love for Queen Elizabeth II after her death, portraying her as a corrupt tyrant and acting as if she had real power in the United Kingdom.
The Fars news agency, which is linked to the Pasdaran, decried her “bloody legacy to humanity” in an article chronicling alleged misdeeds, including schemes she supposedly led against Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan.
The article also described her fortune, and suggested she enriched her family with ill-gotten gains. “During her lifetime, she earned more than $9 million through horse racing,” said the report, linking her to the sinful practice of gambling, though the earnings were from purses her horses won in races.
Neither Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi nor President Ebrahim Raisi offered condolences after the Queen’s death. The Foreign Ministry issued no statement either. The only major countries not issuing any condolences were reported to be Iran and Afghanistan. Some hardliners said in social media posts that withholding condolences was a sign of Iran’s “independence.”
Despite Iran’s sleight, Britain invited Iran to attend the funeral, though only at the ambassadorial level, which it also did for North Korea and Nicaragua.
Six countries were snubbed completely and not issued any invitations: Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Syria, Venezuela and Afghanistan.
On September 9, state television carried a special program on the queen. Host Pejman Karimi said, “The queen of England is dead and this is considered good news for the world’s oppressed people. After 70 years on the throne, this queen has left a grade sheet full of crime, abomination and filth.”
He then turned to Foad Izadi of the University of Tehran, who said, “The queen of England is one of the greatest criminals in the history of mankind. Perhaps, in light of her 70 years on the throne, she should be included in the same list with Hitler…. From a certain perspective, we should be sad that this person died because she died without standing trial, without being punished and without paying for her crimes.”
Iranians of a certain generation have long been obsessed over the perceived machinations of the British Crown, believing it behind grand global conspiracies. And it didn’t help Queen Elizabeth’s standing with those people that she ascended the throne only months before the 1953 coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, though it is unlikely she even became aware of the plot until after it became public knowledge.
News outlets around the world were filled with stories about the immense line, referred to in Britain as The Queue, waiting—for some more than 20 hours—to see the queen’s bier. The next-to-last person to walk passed the casket in London was Sima Mansouri, 55, who was born in Iran, then lived in the US for 20 years and is now a London resident. When she reached the casket, she said she didn’t want to leave. “I just wanted to hold on. I kept turning around and looking back because we are not going to see her again.”
Queen Elizabeth II visited Iran in 1961, touring the country’s historic sites and meeting with the Shah. He named a major Tehran boulevard after her, though it was renamed to honor agrarian workers after the 1979 revolution.
