Iran Ayatollah: ‘Death to America’ refers to US policies

Khamenei and hard-liners in the Iranian government remain deeply suspicious of the US and view its policies a threat to the country.

‘Well, I kind of take that to mean that they want us dead, ‘ Poe quipped.

The Foreign Ministry said that through the summits between President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping in September in Beijing and between the Korean leader and her U.S counterpart President Barack Obama in October, Seoul bolstered awareness of the need for North Korean denuclearization. Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas, as the saying goes.

To mark the 36 anniversary of the 1979 hostage crisis, when students swarmed the American embassy in Tehran, Iranian media announced the arrest of a student the government actually invited to the country.

Each year, demonstrators gather outside the building of the former U.S. embassy, also known as the “Den of Espionage”, and chant slogans against the United States.

We Yankee cannibals, vampires and genocidal maniacs could easily retaliate in kind, with bellicose slogans like “Death to Iran!”, “Annihilate the Ayatollah!” and “Piss on the Persians!” In fact, new legislation that has been touted as granting additional rights to those accused in Iran, such as the right to representation by counsel, specifically does not apply to national security related crimes.

Anti-Americanism plays into that. On Wednesday Iran celebrated the anniversary by displaying several new American propaganda posters including one mocking the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima.

Others carried banners rejecting USA fast food chains McDonald’s and Starbucks.

Andy Izquierdo, a spokesman for Yum Brands Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky, the owner of KFC, said his company was “shocked with the news that an illegitimate KFC outlet has opened in Tehran”. He did not elaborate.

Rouhani fired back Wednesday with sharp criticism of the recent arrests of Iranian journalists and online activists.

“Under no circumstances will we allow penetration of Americans in economic, social and cultural areas”, Raeisi said, repeating a constant warning heard since the nuclear deal. Despite the Iran nuclear deal, many officials believe it may not be enough to turn things around economically.

Relations between the USA and Iran have improved somewhat under current President Hassan Rouhani and with the announcement of a nuclear deal this summer.

That would suggest that the timing of the messages was tied to politics rather than technological advances, he said.

Nisrene Yousif, a Beirut-based political analyst and researcher, attributed the sharpening tensions to “internal political competition” before parliamentary elections in February.

“Khamenei has to play a delicate game”, said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, a professor who follows Iranian affairs at Syracuse University.

Now they have invited Iran to the table as the US and other powers attempt to find a solution to the conflict in Syria.

He urged the students not to trust the US, saying, “the Americans shed tears in front of cameras pretending they are against war”.