“Death to America”: These three words are echoed today from mosques to schools to the parliament house. Yet apparently, this chant has been grossly misinterpreted by the international community. According to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “Death to America” isn’t quite as bad as it sounds. In the lead-up to the Wednesday anniversary of the destruction of the United States embassy in Tehran, Khamenei has taken to his website to clarify the meaning of the slogan.

“It goes without saying,” Khamenei stated, “that the slogan does not mean death to the American nation; this slogan means death to the U.S. policies, death to arrogance.”

Can we believe that?

The truth is that the ayatollah’s statements are just a flimsy facade to keep Iran’s “moderate” charade from being exposed. There is evidence aplenty to suggest that the words “death to America” actually mean death to America.

History of Hatred

The ample history of animosity from Tehran suggests Iran’s true tone behind the slogan.

Its hatred for America predates even the 1979 revolution that toppled the shah of Iran. In 1953, Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh was battling Britain for control of Iran’s oil assets. Alongside the cia, British intelligence allegedly orchestrated a coup, reinstating Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi as Iran’s ruler. Fueled by Iranian hard-liners like Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranians began to see the shah as a mere puppet of the meddling United States.

The anger grew as the U.S. supported Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The anger boiled over in 1979 when the Iranian Revolution took place. The shah was ousted, and the nation went from ally to enemy overnight. Power quickly transitioned from the shah to Ayatollah Khomenei. The U.S. embassy was overrun, and the diplomats and staff were held hostage for 444 days. Today, that embassy is a museum called the “Den of Spies.” Its front wall is decked with a mural of a skeletal Statue of Liberty and the American flag shaped as a gun. Iran still celebrates the day with parades that include flag burning and chants against America.

Adding to the hostility, the United States backed Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War, which lasted from 1980-1988. Since that time, Iran has risen to the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world and has worked hard to hold the title. Iran was behind the Beirut bombing, which claimed the lives of 241 American servicemen.

Both the U.S. and Iran attribute many deaths and conflicts in the Middle East and abroad to one another. Yet Americans don’t teach their children to chant “Death to Iran” or sing it in the streets at rallies. That is because there is another element to “Death to America” that Iran possesses.

Nuclear Aspirations

Throughout the nuclear deal, Iranians chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry posed the question in the September 2015 Trumpet magazine, “Can we expect a deal with such a nation to make the world safer?”

Isn’t the attempted acquisition of nuclear weaponry enough to perhaps warrant a closer look at what Iran means by “Death to America”? Iran has been willing to spend years under sanctions, international isolation, a collapsing economy, and a plummeting standard of living in order to get nuclear weapons. Such a hostile attitude lends enormous weight to the idea that Iran might literally mean “Death to America.”

Be sure to read Mr. Flurry’s article on Iran and recent diplomatic attempts to curtail its nuclear advancement. The article, “Negotiating Human Survival,” shows precisely that Iran means what it says. The threats to America are not aimed at policies but at the citizens of the Western world!

National Identity

“Death to America” is not just an expression of hatred toward U.S. policy, it is part of Iran’s national identity. It is, in fact, a key facet of Iran’s regional control!

The Wall Street Journal published an article that touched on this. When discussing the possibility that the nuclear agreement may be the start of the end for “Death to America,” the article stated:

[S]uch predictions are premature. They overlook how central the hatred of the U.S. has been to the Islamic Republic’s identity and ideology. Anti-Americanism allows Iran to claim leadership among all Muslims, even Sunnis, and it is the core of its policies in places like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

In essence, a hatred of America is a common bond between Muslims in the Middle East. It allows Iran to have a relationship with its terrorist proxies from Lebanon to Libya, from the Arabic Peninsula to Afghanistan.

Iran uses a policy of anti-Americanism to strengthen its overall effectiveness in the region. By enacting “death to America” policies, it establishes itself as a legitimate opponent to the influence of the United States in the Middle East. Many Muslims do not trust the U.S. and look for a viable power to replace it. By propagating anti-West, anti-American sentiment, Iran is working to establish itself as that replacement.

The “Death to America” policy does not center on merely reversing American policy; it calls for the destruction of America and all it represents. If Iran really was interested in the death of American “policy and arrogance,” neither its pursuit of nuclear arms nor its support of terrorism would be necessary.

The ‘Great Satan’ and the ‘Little Satan’

Another consideration should be Iran’s repeated referencing to America as the “great Satan.” The term was first used by Khomeini back in a 1979 revolution speech. Today, it is peppered into official speeches and generally soaks pro-government rallies across the nation. It also comes out in universities and mosques.

Are we to assume that this title is also meant only to refer to America’s policies?

Consider: Israel is called by many in Iran the “little Satan.” Iran may be more clandestine with its plans to destroy America, but it is not so with Israel.

Just last November the ayatollah listed nine ways to destroy Israel. It is a rare occasion when Iran’s supreme leader forgoes mentioning the destruction of Israel in a speech or publication. If Iran’s intentions are so hostile toward the nation it perceives to be the “little Satan,” can its hostile intentions really be any less for the nation it calls the “great Satan?”

Blind Leadership

Iran’s history, its identity, and everything its leaders say and do prove beyond doubt that “Death to America” is not just referring to American policy. So why does Khamenei think he can get away with making these statements?

Because he can.

The New Yorker reported that during a committee hearing in July, Texas Republican Ted Poe asked Secretary of State John Kerry, “Is it the policy of the ayatollah, if you can answer for him, that Iran wants to destroy the United States?” The response from Kerry was, “I don’t believe they’ve said that …. I think they’ve said ‘Death to America!’ in their chants.”

Ted Poe was just as bemused as you are at this statement. Aren’t these the same thing?

Not according to Kerry. The secretary of state is onboard with the ayatollah. He doesn’t see “Death to America” as meaning literal death to America. He can’t. To see it as such would force him to admit that Iran has not swung suddenly to become a moderate and negotiable partner. It would require him to admit that Iran is still desiring, if not seeking, the means to destroy America—most likely with nuclear weapons!

And so Kerry, and undoubtedly the residents of the White House, convince themselves that “Death to America” is more of a symbol than a threat.

Media Bias

After the clarification by the ayatollah, the Guardian stated, “But 36 years after the Islamic Revolution, ‘Death to America!’ has lost much of its potency inside the country, reduced to a rote phrase of state propaganda which few Iranians take seriously.”

The New Yorker quoted an American-educated Iranian explaining that only a fraction of Iran’s population chants the phrase and wholeheartedly believes it.

But they miss the point. Those with the ability to switch on the centrifuges and launch a missile—the policymakers and religious leaders—are the ones who believe in the slogan! Those are the people to worry about. The media should fear a handful of Iran’s political and religious zealots chanting “Death to America” far more than it should fear a crowd of Iranian youths who may be pressured into chanting it.

The Western media doesn’t recognize that those leaders don’t believe it is fanaticism to wish the destruction of America. To them genocide for the West is sound-minded! During his clarification, the ayatollah stated, “The slogan ‘Death to America’ is backed by reason and wisdom.” Genocidal wisdom and reason. That is a glimpse into the minds of Iran’s leaders. They stoically hold to the idea that death must come to America. It drives their political and religious lives. Wishful-thinking media, much like wishful-thinking politicians, will too eagerly eat up any story that portrays Iran as moderate. While we all might want Iran to give up its policy of “Death to America,” the truth is that it has not happened. It is dangerously naive to take Khameini’s word that “Death to America” is anything but literal.

A Sure Answer

The Iran we see today is dominating the Middle East, and its economy is set to quickly regain the strength it lost under international sanctions. And all the while, Iran’s missile program grows. The nuclear reactors remain standing, the centrifuges keep spinning. Iran is entrusted to keep tabs on its own sites. The whole scenario begs for Iran to quickly complete the nuclear process.

For years, Iran has worked toward gaining nuclear weapons. Now it stands on the threshold. Once that goal is reached and it has weapons of mass destruction, Iran will have the means to level cities and kill millions. It is at that somber moment that we will see exactly what Iran means when it calls for the destruction of nations.