Iran’s Embassy in India has mocked the United Nations with a meme featuring characters from the Indian film Sholay and Marvel’s Doctor Strange, accusing the world body of being ineffective in responding to major international crises.
The embassy shared the meme on X, contrasting Doctor Strange, depicted with multiple arms, with Thakur Baldev Singh, a character played by Sanjeev Kumar in the 1975 Bollywood film Sholay. The first image is labelled “UN according to school books,” while the second is captioned “UN in reality,” referring to Thakur’s amputated hands in the film.
The post came shortly after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York. The UN officially recorded the meeting on September 28, during which the two sides discussed regional and international issues.
Iran has repeatedly criticised the UN and the Security Council over what Tehran describes as an inadequate response to actions by the United States and Israel. The meme appears to reflect Tehran’s broader criticism that the UN lacks sufficient ability to prevent or respond decisively to major conflicts involving powerful states.
The timing of the post was also notable because the UN General Assembly’s 81st session has focused heavily on international conflicts and the effectiveness of multilateral institutions. Guterres has called for stronger international cooperation and Security Council reform, while acknowledging growing divisions over global crises.
The Iranian embassy has previously used popular culture to criticise U.S. policy. In an earlier social-media post, it used a meme featuring Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar to mock U.S. President Donald Trump.
The latest meme uses a widely recognized Bollywood reference to communicate Iran’s criticism of the UN in a visually simple way, while highlighting Tehran’s broader dissatisfaction with the international body’s role in the current geopolitical crises.
