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When Iran uses the slogan “Death to America,” the country’s supreme leader said on Friday, it is specifically wishing death on President Trump and two of his senior officials.
Thomas Erdbrink | New York Times
February 8, 2019
When Iran uses the slogan “Death to America,” the country’s supreme leader said on Friday, it is specifically wishing death on President Trump and two of his senior officials.
“ ‘Death to America’ means death to Trump and John Bolton and Pompeo,” the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said, referring to John R. Bolton, the president’s national security adviser, and Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state. “It means death to American leaders, who happen to be these people at this time,” he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei has reflected on the phrase repeatedly as Iran prepares to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its Islamic revolution, and engages in an increasingly bitter standoff with the Trump administration. The United States has withdrawn from a nuclear accord with Iran, reimposed economic sanctions on the country, and stepped up measures designed to pressure and perhaps to change its leadership.
“Death to America” would remain part of Iran’s official discourse, Ayatollah Khamenei’s website, Khamenei.ir, quoted him as saying on Monday, until the United States changed its “evil and mean” ways.