Chants of “Death to America” frequently shouted at anti-American rallies in Iran are not a threat to the American people, but rather U.S. policies, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme religious leader, said on Tuesday.
“Your ’Death to America’ slogan, and the cries by the Iranian nation, have strong logical support behind them,” Mr. Khamenei told Iranian students in Tehran, The Associated Press reported. “Obviously by ’Death to America’, we don’t mean death to the American people. The American nation is just like the rest of the nations. It … means death to U.S. policies and its arrogance.”
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have improved slightly under current President Hassan Rouhani and since the signing of a nuclear deal with Tehran this summer.
While Mr. Khamenei has supported the nuclear deal, he has stressed on multiple occasions that Iran will not negotiate with the U.S. on any other issue and accused President Obama of threatening Iran.
“The nature of the U.S. attitude is continuation of the same hostile aims from the past, and the nation will not forget this,” Mr. Khamenei said, AP reported.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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