Iran: The World’s Biggest Colonial Power? Douglas Murray Says Yes

Douglas Murray brought a blunt message to Life, Liberty & Levin on February 1, 2026, telling Americans that the Iranian regime is not some abstract revolutionary government but the “biggest colonial power” in the Middle East. His remarks were sharp and unapologetic, reminding viewers that this is a regime that exports violence and empire under the cover of religion and rhetoric.

Murray argued that the current Iranian uprising is unlike past protests because it exposes the regime’s systematic brutality and its willingness to erase whole swaths of society to stay in power. He even warned that what’s happening feels like a dark echo of the 1930s, with a state willing to crush dissent at any cost and inflict what he described as a form of genocide on its own people. Those are not idle metaphors; they are a sober alarm about a regime that murders its citizens to maintain control.

Beyond human rights horrors, Murray warned that inaction from the West allows Iran to continue building nuclear capabilities, ballistic missiles, and a global proxy network that threatens our allies and our homeland. He spelled out a grim calculus: tolerate Tehran’s advances now, and you accept a far more dangerous world later, with China and Russia quietly enabling Iran’s ambitions. That’s a clear challenge to any American leader who still imagines restraint equals safety.

This is why Murray refuses to accept the comforting but false narrative that Iran is merely resisting “colonialism” abroad while practicing colonization of its neighbors at home. He’s blunt that the revolutionary government in Tehran has behaved like an imperial power for decades, embedding militias, dominating weak states, and exporting chaos across the region. Recognizing that truth matters if we’re serious about protecting liberty and stopping aggression.

Enough of the hand-wringing and moral equivalence that ties our hands while tyrants sharpen their knives. Americans who value freedom should stand openly with the brave Iranians risking everything in the streets, double down on sanctions where they bite, strengthen deterrence against Tehran’s proxies, and make it clear that deeds have consequences. Weakness invites war and suffering; resolve preserves peace and liberty.

Patriots do not look away when people cry for freedom and when a threat to the West grows under our noses. Douglas Murray’s warning is a wake-up call: defend the oppressed abroad, hold enemies accountable at home, and make clear to the world that America will not appease imperialism in any form.