Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

’Ingilis’, ‘Cherchil’ and Conspiracy Theories Galore: The Iranian Perception of the British

Behravesh, Maysam LU (2010) In e-International Relations (e-IR)
Abstract
One of the constant characteristics featuring Iran-Britain relations in the post-revolutionary era has been a strong sense of distrust and a demonizing discourse they have employed mostly as an ideological-moral framework to interpret and represent each other’s actions and policies. A great majority of the Islamic Republic officials view the UK and its policies, however favourable or friendly they might prove to be at times, from a ‘threat-based’ perspective. A byproduct of this sedimentary perception is the development of conspiracy theories about British ubiquity in Iranian affairs, exemplified by the pre-revolutionary book and television serial My Uncle Napoleon. and its overriding motif that the British have a hidden hand in anything... (More)
One of the constant characteristics featuring Iran-Britain relations in the post-revolutionary era has been a strong sense of distrust and a demonizing discourse they have employed mostly as an ideological-moral framework to interpret and represent each other’s actions and policies. A great majority of the Islamic Republic officials view the UK and its policies, however favourable or friendly they might prove to be at times, from a ‘threat-based’ perspective. A byproduct of this sedimentary perception is the development of conspiracy theories about British ubiquity in Iranian affairs, exemplified by the pre-revolutionary book and television serial My Uncle Napoleon. and its overriding motif that the British have a hidden hand in anything ominous and undesirable that happens to its protagonist and, by extension, to Iran. Strikingly, there is a good number of Iranians among the general public who believe that the Islamic Revolution was primarily masterminded by Ingilis. Others take a further cynical stride and, in spite of the strained relations and almost constant tension between the Islamic Republic and Great Britain since, maintain that the ayatollahs are originally a British product and bilateral co-operation on how best to take advantage of Iran’s national wealth goes on behind the scenes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Contribution to specialist publication or newspaper
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Iranian, British, perception, conspiracy, theory
categories
Popular Science
in
e-International Relations (e-IR)
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
The article has been published on the e-International Relations (e-IR) website (www.e-IR.info).
id
1568987a-bc5c-402c-87e6-f7fe852399b7 (old id 3129321)
alternative location
http://www.e-ir.info/2010/10/24/%E2%80%98ingilis%E2%80%99-%E2%80%98cherchil%E2%80%99-and-conspiracy-theories-galore-the-iranian-perception-of-the-british/
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 14:32:01
date last changed
2020-06-11 09:00:53
@misc{1568987a-bc5c-402c-87e6-f7fe852399b7,
  abstract     = {{One of the constant characteristics featuring Iran-Britain relations in the post-revolutionary era has been a strong sense of distrust and a demonizing discourse they have employed mostly as an ideological-moral framework to interpret and represent each other’s actions and policies. A great majority of the Islamic Republic officials view the UK and its policies, however favourable or friendly they might prove to be at times, from a ‘threat-based’ perspective. A byproduct of this sedimentary perception is the development of conspiracy theories about British ubiquity in Iranian affairs, exemplified by the pre-revolutionary book and television serial My Uncle Napoleon. and its overriding motif that the British have a hidden hand in anything ominous and undesirable that happens to its protagonist and, by extension, to Iran. Strikingly, there is a good number of Iranians among the general public who believe that the Islamic Revolution was primarily masterminded by Ingilis. Others take a further cynical stride and, in spite of the strained relations and almost constant tension between the Islamic Republic and Great Britain since, maintain that the ayatollahs are originally a British product and bilateral co-operation on how best to take advantage of Iran’s national wealth goes on behind the scenes.}},
  author       = {{Behravesh, Maysam}},
  keywords     = {{Iranian; British; perception; conspiracy; theory}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  series       = {{e-International Relations (e-IR)}},
  title        = {{’Ingilis’, ‘Cherchil’ and Conspiracy Theories Galore: The Iranian Perception of the British}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/6382273/3129322.pdf}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}