Iran’s supreme leader says his nation’s people are not threatening everyday Americans when they chant “Death to America.”
“[The] aim of the slogan is not death to American people,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, according to The Associated Press.
{mosads}“The slogan means death to U.S. policies and arrogance,” he added, one day before the anniversary of Iran’s takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979.
Khamenei also argued that the controversial slogan inspires “strong support” among Iranians because of America’s policies toward their country.
The U.S. “would not hesitate” to destroy Iran if given the chance, the Ayatollah added during remarks before Iranian students.
“The nature of the U.S. attitude is continuation of the same hostile aims from the past, and the nation will not forget this,” Khamenei said.
Khamenei’s remarks come as Iran readies for the 36th anniversary of its hostage standoff with the U.S. in 1979.
Militant university students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran during the incident, taking 52 Americans captive for 444 days.
The comments also follow the Obama administration’s landmark nuclear arms agreement with Khamenei’s government earlier this year.
The landmark pact eases economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for greater restrictions on its nuclear energy capabilities.
Reports emerged last week that the Iranian government had arrested an Iranian-American living in Dubai.
Siamak Namazi — reportedly aged in his early 40s — was arrested three weeks ago while visiting his family in Tehran.
His arrest makes Namazi the fourth American imprisoned there. A fifth American went missing in 2007, and the Iranian government is believed to have knowledge of his whereabouts.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani also defended his nation’s “Death to America” chant during a rare appearance on U.S. television last month.
“This slogan that is chanted is not a slogan against the American people,” he said via a translator on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
“Our people respect the American people,” Rouhani added. “The Iranian people are not looking for war with any country, but at the same time, the policies of the United States have been against the national interests of the Iranian people.”