Iran opens Khamenei funeral with calls for 'death to America'

[lapucelle]

24. It's not a "grief fueled rhetorical phrase". It's a slogan used by the ruling elite

whose hardline tactics against both dissent and the west align with the slogan's literal meaning.

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Hey, but at least it's not as graphically violent as the slogan used by extremist Iran's extremist proxies, the Houthis:

"God is great, Death to America, Death to Israel, A curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam."

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AP FACT CHECK: ‘Death to America’ chants live on in Iran
14 June 2019

TRUMP, speaking about Iranians “screaming death to America” when Barack Obama was U.S. president: “They haven’t screamed ‘death to America’ lately.” — Fox News interview Friday.

THE FACTS: Not true. The death-to-America chant is heard routinely.

The chant, “marg bar Amreeka” in Farsi, dates back even before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Once used by communists, it was popularized by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the revolution’s figurehead and Iran’s first supreme leader after the U.S. Embassy takeover by militants..

It remains a staple of hard-line demonstrations, meetings with current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, official ceremonies, parliamentary sessions and main Friday prayer services in Tehran and across the country.

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Fun fact:

The phrase is routinely painted onto Iranian ballistic missiles during military parades, directly linking the verbal threat to physical, destructive capabilities.

Iran launches ballistic missile bearing 'Death to America' message
10 January 2018

https://www.euronews.com/2018/10/01/iran-revolutionary-guard-launches-missiles-syria-over-parade-attack-n915256