Old fox.

About Old fox

"Old fox" is a term used by some Iranians to describe the United Kingdom. In Iranian and many other traditions, the fox is known as a sly and cunning animal, and therefore has often been used as a metaphor for a cunning person who achieves goals through trickery rather than simply by force. In the context of Iranian attitudes to the United Kingdom, the term was first used by the philosopher and poet Adib Pishavari (1844–1930). When Pishavari was young, his father and relatives were killed in the war between the United Kingdom and Iran in 1857–58. Pishavari later wrote many poems expressing his anti-British sentiment, often representing the United Kingdom using animal metaphors, such as "old fox", "ominous raven" and "venomous viper".