News / Politics / Foreign Policy

Iran cartoon exhibition exposes UK interventionism under Queen

Thursday, 13 June 2019 2:06 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 13 June 2019 6:17 PM ]

Photo by Iranian Mehr news agency shows cartoons on display during an exhibition dubbed “Keep Calm I am the Queen” in Tehran on June 11, 2019.

An exhibition of cartoons in the Iranian capital Tehran has put works on display which are exclusively focused on the British monarchy and its interventionist agenda.

The fair, titled Keep Calm, I am the Queen, shows 40 pieces of works by various artists who seek to mostly expose decades of Britain’s interventionist policy in Iran and other countries.

Former Iranian nuclear negotiator Saied Jalili was at the festival when it was inaugurated on June 11. The politician is known for his repeated criticism of London’s lack of cooperation during negotiations that finally lead to a nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers in 2015.

Photo by Iranian Mehr news agency shows former Iranian nuclear negotiator Saied Jalili (R) and head of Iran’s Center for Visual Arts Seyed Masoud Shojaei visiting cartoons at an exhibition dubbed titled “Keep Calm, I am the Queen” in Tehran on June 11, 2019.

Authorities holding the exhibition said it was meant to coincide with the 93^rd birthday anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II, the monarch who has been on the throne in Britain since 1953.

“England is the country which has committed the highest number of crimes against Iran. The holocaust carried out by this country in Iran during the First World War killed nine million people,” said Seyed Masoud Shojaei, who heads Iran’s Center for Visual Arts, while referring to famine that happened in Iran more than a century ago.

Photo by Iranian Mehr news agency shows a girl pointing to a cartoon during an exhibition dubbed titled “Keep Calm, I am the Queen” in Tehran on June 11, 2019.

The fair comes amid attempts by the UK embassy in Tehran to link with more Iranian political and cultural figures.

The embassy invited some Iranian figures for an Iftar ceremony during the holy month of Ramadan, a move viewed as suspicious in Iran's political circles and in line with Tehran's allegations that Britain uses cultural figures to spy on the Islamic Republic.

Photo by Iranian Mehr news agency shows a poster of a cartoon exhibition dubbed titled “Keep Calm I am the Queen” hanging at the entrance of a gallery in Tehran on June 11, 2019.

The UK ambassador to Tehran Rob Macaire wrote a tweet after the ceremony and said it was a normal procedure for British missions in Islamic countries around the world to hold such events.

While opening the cartoon exhibition, Shojaei claimed Macaire had sent emails to Iranian business entities and others to ask them to pay 2,500 pounds if they wanted to be invited to a ceremony in the embassy for the queen’s birthday last Saturday.

At least two Iranian-British nationals have been jailed for spying for Britain under the disguise of cultural activities. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, in jail since 2016, is convicted of cooperating with British intelligence agencies to help them recruit people as journalists in Iran.

Aras Amiri, a former British council staff, who was also jailed for 10 years in March, is also convicted of espionage.