The lawmakers said Iranians should continue chanting this slogan at the weekly Friday prayers in mosques and at protests despite the nuclear deal since “Death to America” has already “turned into the symbol of the Islamic republic and all struggling nations”.
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“Police closed the “KFC” restaurant as it didn’t have authorisation and had been operating under a false license”, reported the news site of Iran’s Young Journalist Club, which is affiliated with state television. “The slogan means death to USA policies and arrogance”. With the anniversary of the November 4, 1979 US embassy storming fast approaching, America is becoming an even more popular topic than usual.
“We are aware of reports that a USA lawful permanent resident has been arrested in Iran”, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said.
“Today, the evil arrogant powers have learned that they should not attempt to thwart us in the same way that enemies of Hussein encircled him.”
(Erm, how should we take it?) I think we might be excused if we find the “good cop, bad cop” routine of President Rouhani and main dude Ali Khamenei (affectionately known to legions of Americans as “Old Dirtbag”) just a tad confusing.
“They were trying to save the US image and make society ready for the official presence of the Americans in Iran”, the man, identified only as Asef, told state TV by phone, saying this process was “designed and funded by American spy agencies”.
Legislators said on Monday that the government and the parliament must “act carefully in line with the honourable leader’s wise guidance” in the aftermath of the nuclear deal, referring to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In a speech in August, Ayatollah Khamenei underlined that Iran acts “decisively” to block Washington’s abuse of the outcomes of the nuclear talks, noting, “With all our strong capabilities, we will not allow Americans’ economic, political or cultural infiltration or political presence in Iran”. The students held the hostages for 444 days, and the two countries have had no diplomatic relations since then.
“This slogan that is chanted is not a slogan against the American people”, he said via a translator on CBS’s “60 Minutes”.
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Another apparent fissure emerged Tuesday when Iranian state TV announced the arrest of a Lebanese technology expert, Nizar Ahmad Zakka, who worked in the United States and was accused by Iran of “deep ties” to the USA military. In recent weeks, artists and journalists in Iran have been arrested or given harsh sentences in a series of trials. The West suspects Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at producing atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it’s for peaceful purposes only.
