To millions of Persian speakers, the Prime Minister's first name sounds remarkably similar to one of the language's most commonly used obscenities. The word کیر — transliterated as "kir" — is a vulgar term for a penis, and Sir Keir Starmer has been unable to escape the joke since the outbreak of the Iran war.
The linguistic similarity has long been noted by Iranian diaspora communities, but mockery on social media surged sharply over the past month as Sir Keir's perceived passivity during escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf gave Persian-speaking users fresh ammunition.
The volume peaked this week when the Prime Minister declared that Britain would not participate in any blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — a statement that prompted an immediate eruption of jokes, with many users referring to him openly as "Kir Starmer."
"From his name, you can tell what kind of man he is," one user wrote on X.
"So this Kir Starmer made fools of us! Uncle, we know!" wrote another. A third said: "If Starmer was any good, his mother wouldn't have named him Kir."
Sir Keir's decision to flip-flop on allowing US access to British RAF bases has made him few friends on either side of the conflict, reports The Telegraph.
Iranian dissidents and opposition figures accused him of playing both ends — distancing himself from the war in public while enabling it from British soil.
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former crown prince of Iran, was among those to attack Sir Keir's stance, accusing him of effectively "appeasing" the Islamic Republic.
Donald Trump has made the Prime Minister a recurring target. Last month the US President said:
"This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with."
Trump has also drawn comparisons between Sir Keir and Neville Chamberlain, citing what he sees as a strategy of appeasement toward Tehran.
