Iranian state publications and television networks marked the passing of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II throughout the past week by branding her a “war criminal” comparable to Adolf Hitler and “some American presidents” and claiming her death has swelled a tide of anti-monarchist sentiment around the world.
In reality, the vast majority of the civilized world has joined in mourning with the United Kingdom and leaders of even brutal human rights violators allied with Iran, such as Chinese dictator Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, have extended condolences.
Among the most incendiary broadcasts from Iran occurred on its Channel 1 network, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institution (MEMRI) and posted to social media on Monday.
Channel 1 host Pejman Karimi called Elizabeth’s death “good news for the world’s oppressed people” and described her legacy as “full of crime, abomination, and filth.”
His guest, Iranian “scholar” Foad Izadi of Tehran University, called Elizabeth “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,” Izadi said, according to a translation by MEMRI.
Izadi made similar remarks in an English-language broadcast on Iranian government network PressTV on Sunday.
“The queen is a famous imperialist, colonialist, war criminal, aggression of the British army throughout the world is done under her name,” Izadi ranted. “British armed forces are the queen’s armed forces.”
“So we have just a handful of people who have engaged in so many atrocities in the last century: Hitler, for example, some American presidents belong to that list, and Queen Elizabeth that oversaw the end of the British empire,” he concluded, claiming that Elizabeth’s reign was “very brutal” because the empire was trying “not to lose the land.”
“The number of people that have been killed are in the millions and the queen is responsible for that,” he asserted. “Justice was not delivered to one of the most vicious individuals of that last century.”
PressTV’s English-language website published similar vitriol to mark the occasion of the queen’s passing, which occurred on September 8 at the age of 96.
“Through their colonial reign, she and her forebears inflicted excruciating suffering on millions across the world,” PressTV proclaimed in a commentary published on Sunday. “Elizabeth II’s long reign spanned seven decades, during which British dark and savage colonialism metamorphosed into less visible ‘neocolonialism,’ heralding the looming end of Pax Britannica.”
PressTV accused Elizabeth of presiding over “seven decades of obnoxious crimes” against Iran specifically, blaming her for, among other things, Iran not having sovereignty over the nation of Bahrain and the deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that the Iranian Islamic regime unleashed on its people in 2009.
On the latter issue, PressTV claimed that young protesters took the streets demanding the end of the nearly 50-year-old Islamic regime because “the BBC unleashed a psychological blitz,” allegedly under orders from Queen Elizabeth, that indoctrinated young Iranians into demanding free and fair elections under a democratic regime. PressTV claimed the 2009 election that spawned the protests was a “democratic triumph” even as Iran allows only candidates approved by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to run in presidential elections, thus making the position of “president” a ceremonial one at its most powerful.
“Many naïvely argue that the deceased Queen had merely a ceremonial role. However, given her immense symbolism as head of state, who else is to blame for British government crimes against Iranians than herself?” PressTV asked.
Fars News Agency, a broadcaster under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed on Saturday that the queen’s death had inspired the world to reject the British crown. The IRGC is a formal wing of the Iranian military and a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, believed responsible for widespread violence throughout the Middle East and South America.
“Since her death on Thursday, American commentators, academics, and a former US diplomat, among others, took to social media and elsewhere to call for fully wrestling with the British monarchy’s lasting influence,” Fars claimed, citing several far-left American professors. Fars claimed that many around the world “saw the Queen’s passing as a bitter reminder of the British empire’s violent exploitation of countries throughout history.”
“In recent years, Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch, and the royal family have been forced to confront its colonialist past under public pressure and accusations of racism within the family,” Fars claimed, without specifying what “public pressure” or “accusations” it referred to.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry did not issue any statements of condolence to the United Kingdom on the passing of Queen Elizabeth and has yet to issue any statement congratulating King Charles III on his ascent to the throne at press time.
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