Hundreds of thousands rally in Iran against Trump, chant 'Death to America'

[GennGreymane]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN15P0QV

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians rallied on Friday to swear allegiance to the clerical establishment following U.S. President Donald Trump's warning that he had put the Islamic Republic "on notice", state TV reported.

On the anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, which toppled the U.S.-backed shah, marchers including hundreds of military personnel and policemen headed towards Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square.

They carried "Death to America" banners and effigies of Trump, while a military police band played traditional Iranian revolutionary songs.

State TV showed footage of people stepping on Trump's picture in a central Tehran street. Marchers carried the Iranian flag and banners saying: "Thanks Mr. Trump for showing the real face of America."

"America and Trump cannot do a damn thing. We are ready to sacrifice our lives for our leader", a young Iranian man told state TV in a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Last week, Trump put Iran "on notice" in reaction to a Jan. 29 Iranian missile test and imposed fresh sanctions on individuals and entities. Iran said it will not halt its missile program.

Iranian leading religious and political figures, including Pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani had called on Iranians to join the rally on Friday to "show their unbreakable ties with the Supreme Leader and the Islamic Republic".

VIGILANT

In a speech marking the revolution's anniversary, Rouhani urged Iran's faction-ridden elite to seek unity amid increased tensions with the United States.

"Some inexperienced figures in the region and America are threatening Iran ... They should know that the language of threats has never worked with Iran," Rouhani told the crowd at Azadi Square.

"Our nation is vigilant and will make those threatening Iran regret it ... They should learn to respect Iran and Iranians ... We will strongly confront any war-mongering policies."

The rallies were rife with anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli sentiment. Some carried pictures of Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and British Prime Minister Theresa May captioned "Death to the Devil Triangle".

"This turnout of people is a strong response to false remarks by the new leaders of America," Rouhani told state TV, which said millions had turned out at rallies across Iran.

U.S. flags were burned as is traditional although many Iranians on social media such as Twitter and Facebook used the hashtag #LoveBeyondFlags to urge an end to flag-burning during the anniversary.

They also thanked Americans for opposing Trump's executive order banning entry to the United States to travellers from seven mainly Muslim countries, including Iran. Trump's travel ban is being challenged in U.S. courts.

Both U.S.-based social media sites are blocked in Iran by a wide-reaching government censor but they are still commonly used by millions of Iranians who use special software to get around the restrictions. Iranian officials, including Khamenei, have Twitter and Facebook accounts despite the ban.

Trump has criticized a nuclear deal reached between Iran, the United States and other major powers in 2015 aimed at curbing the country's nuclear work. Most of the sanctions imposed on Iran were lifted last year under the deal.

Rouhani defended the deal, which his hardline rivals oppose as a concession to pressure from Washington, saying it protected the Islamic Republic’s rights to nuclear power, ending Iran's political isolation and crippling economic sanctions.

Looks like they need some,

/sunglasses

Freedom


YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!~~~

[Deleted]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN15P0QV



Looks like they need some,

/sunglasses

Freedom


YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!~~~

You mean time to liberate some oil?

[NED funded]

They clearly need Democracy^TM

[HumbleDuck]

This is a heavily organised rally, this is the norm every year.
It's propaganda more than anything. It is obvious specially in a city that there have been unorganized rallies by reformists in the 3-4 million count recently.

[Independent voter]

Haven't they been doing that for the last 40 years?

[Deleted]

Meh, the yearly "Death to America" rally since the Iranian Revolution. Hardly news.

[HumbleDuck]

Meh, the yearly "Death to America" rally since the Iranian Revolution. Hardly news.

And to be fair "death to X" in a Persian is a slang for shame on X. Not wishing actual death upon US.

[Ragedaug]

Death to America (Persian: مر* بر آمر***‎‎ Marg bar Âmrikâ) (Arabic: *لمو* لأمريك*‎‎ Almawt Lamrikā) is an anti-American political slogan and chant which has been in use in Iran since the inception of the Iranian Revolution in 1979
~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_to_America

So yeah, saying the "Death to America" protest is about Trump is what we call "fake news".

[Ragedaug]

With Bannon and Trump in power, death of America via suicide, seems more probable.

Yeah totally. I heard they were all going to move to Canada too. You can totally take all those super dramatic people seriously.

[sheggaro]

Iran's been doing that since the 80's.

It's just soon they'll have nukes.

Whoops.

[Azadina]

Iran's been doing that since the 80's.

It's just soon they'll have nukes.

Whoops.

North Korea actually has. So what?

[Tack980]

Doesn't this happen every presidency since at least the 70's?

[Elba]

Iran's been doing that since the 80's.

It's just soon they'll have nukes.

Whoops.

I hope they get nukes soon so they can defend themselves from American invasion and Israeli aggression.

[lordsphinx]

“Israel’s leaders sometimes threaten Iran, but they know that if they do a damn thing, the Islamic Republic will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground.”
-Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran

“The Imam [Khomeini] set long-term goals for the day the occupying Zionist regime is no longer in the region. The formula for this move must be discussed in the government.”
-Hasan Rouhani, President of Iran.

“The Army of Iran can by itself destroy Israel.”
-Maj. Gen. Ataollah Salehi, Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Army

“According to the Supreme Leader’s statement marking Nowruz, if Israel acts foolishly, Tel Aviv and Haifa will be annihilated….The armed forces are prepared with all their power to execute the orders of the Supreme Leader in minimum time.”
-Gen. Mohammad Hejazi, Deputy Chief of Staff

“Our battalions are named Imam Ali, Imam Hussein and Bayt al-Maqdis [Jerusalem] to clarify our final destination to the Basiji. We will not abandon our [armed] struggle until the annihilation of Israel and until we will be able to pray in al-Aqsa mosque.”
-Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, Commander of the Basij militia

“The enemies are talking about the options [they have] on the table. They should know that the first option on our table is the annihilation of Israel.”
-Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani, Lecturer at religious seminary in Qom

“We must spare no effort in liberating holy Jerusalem and cutting off the hands of the infidels from this holy site.”
-Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani, Assembly of Experts Chairman

“The Zionist regime will soon be destroyed, and this generation will be witness to its destruction.”
-Hojatoleslam Ali Shirazi, Supreme Leader’s representative in the Revolutionary Guards

“The issue of Palestine is an Islamic issue. The Islamic world must come together to destroy the false Israeli regime….If this happens, nothing will be left of Israel.”
-Ayatollah Mohammed Ali Movahedi-Kermani, Tehran’s interim Friday Imam

“As the Supreme Leader has stated, if the Zionists cause any problems for Iran, Haifa and Tel Aviv will be annihilated.”
-Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, Senior Military Adviser to the Supreme Leader

“Iran has long-range missiles that can reach 1,500 kilometers….The Supreme Leader maintained that ‘every combatant Palestinian group that fights the Zionist regime will receive the support of the Iranian regime.’”
-Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, Member of the Presidium of the Assembly of Experts

“The only way to subdue the enemies is by refusing to compromise on the goals of the resistance and to remain strong; the future of criminal nations such as the Zionists will be erased from the history books.”
-Hojatoleslam Mohammad Hassan Akhtari, Hizbullah Operations Liaison, Former Ambassador to Syria

“If once the destruction and demise of occupying Israel was an impossible and unattainable dream, today thanks to the historic and intelligent actions of Imam Khomeini, it has become possible and is actually in the process of occurring.”
-Iranian Ministry of Defense statement

“The day will come when the Islamic people in the region will destroy Israel and save the world from this Zionist base.”
-Hojateleslam Alireza Panahian, Advisor to Office of the Supreme Leader in Universities

“The day is near in which the sword of resistance and Islamic Awakening will cut off the blood supply of the occupiers of the holy land of Palestine.”
-Revolutionary Guards statement

“Every Muslim who does not want to fight Israel is violating religious law and essentially forgetting Israel’s crimes over the past 60 years on Islamic soil.”
-Mohammad Dehghan, Member of the Majlis Executive Committee

“The only solution to the Palestine problem is the destruction of the Zionist regime….We view the wondrous resistance as the only way towards a victorious and inspiring battle against the false, illegitimate Zionist regime.”
-Basij organization media outlet, Fars Province

“[The United States and Israel] should not make a mistake, because if they make even the smallest mistake, we will not remain silent and will annihilate Haifa and Tel Aviv.”
-Esmail Kowsari, Deputy Chairman of the Majlis Foreign Policy Commission

“The destruction of Israel is the idea of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and is one of the pillars of the Iranian Islamic regime. We cannot claim that we have no intention of going to war with Israel!”
-Ahmad Alamolhoda, Member of the Assembly of Experts

I don’t understand how so many people in this world don’t see Iran as a legitimate threat. Since their revolution, they have repeatedly stated that they will do whatever they can to destroy not only the USA, but Israel as well. Look at these quotes from just 2013 alone… This was just the first compiled list I came across. I’m sure if you look, there are similar lists for every year since 1979. Remember, this is the country that Hussein Obama lifted sanctions on and gave a total of $33B dollars to over 8 years. Now, Iran is consistently testing ballistic missiles with the capability of reaching Israel, the new administration lets Iran know it won’t be tolerated (Iranian testing of ballistic missiles is specifically banned by the UN), and the left flip the fuck out. I just don’t get it…

[Independent voter]

The US removing those Iranian Ayatollahs and Revolutionary Guards would be the best thing that could happen to Iran and the Middle East.

[Machismo]

I don't know why Iran hates us so much. We tried to give them a government they would like. We tried to tell them that playing with nuclear weapons is dangerous. We tried to turn off their lights for bed time. We're just trying to be good parents...

- - - Updated - - -

The US removing those Iranian Ayatollahs and Revolutionary Guards would be the best thing that could happen to Iran and the Middle East.

Yeah, we already tried that once before... it's kinda why they hate us so much.

[Malacrass]

From that linked wikipedia article (thanks for that Ragedaug)

Mohammad Nahavandian, chief of staff for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that:

If you go and ask anyone who uses that slogan [...] what he is against, it is interference in Iran's policies by overthrowing a nationally elected prime minister at the time of Mossadegh. For them, what they are against is the kind of government who shoots an airplane full of innocent passengers" (referring to the 1988 downing of an Iranian airliner by an American naval vessel). "For them, it's not the people of America, per se. For them, they are opposed to that sort of policy, that sort of attitude, that sort of arrogance. It's not a nation. It's a system of behavior."[23]

"Regarding the words 'Death to America', we mean American politics, not the American people", says Hussein al Hamran, head of Foreign Relations for Ansar Allah (Houthis).[24] Ali al-Bukhayti, a former spokesperson and official media face of the Houthis, has said: "We do not really want death to anyone. The slogan is simply against the interference of those governments [i.e. US, and Israel]"

Maybe they really should come up with another slogan.

[tankbug]

The US removing those Iranian Ayatollahs and Revolutionary Guards would be the best thing that could happen to Iran and the Middle East.

Them peacefully freeing themselves from the rule of the clergy would be infinitely better. At the moment they have a moderate government, and were on better terms with the US, thanks to Obama, but now Trump has ruined it all. Every time that moron opens his mouth, terror organisations and despots grow stronger.

[Deleted]

The US removing those Iranian Ayatollahs and Revolutionary Guards would be the best thing that could happen to Iran and the Middle East.

Introducing more instability to the region would be the best thing? What?

Iran is actually moderate.

[Eviscero]

From that linked wikipedia article (thanks for that Ragedaug)

Mohammad Nahavandian, chief of staff for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that:

If you go and ask anyone who uses that slogan [...] what he is against, it is interference in Iran's policies by overthrowing a nationally elected prime minister at the time of Mossadegh. For them, what they are against is the kind of government who shoots an airplane full of innocent passengers" (referring to the 1988 downing of an Iranian airliner by an American naval vessel). "For them, it's not the people of America, per se. For them, they are opposed to that sort of policy, that sort of attitude, that sort of arrogance. It's not a nation. It's a system of behavior."[23]

"Regarding the words 'Death to America', we mean American politics, not the American people", says Hussein al Hamran, head of Foreign Relations for Ansar Allah (Houthis).[24] Ali al-Bukhayti, a former spokesperson and official media face of the Houthis, has said: "We do not really want death to anyone. The slogan is simply against the interference of those governments [i.e. US, and Israel]"

Maybe they really should come up with another slogan.

Hey now, Trump and his ilk know that what's important is what you meant to say, not what you actually said.

If what you actually said gets 'misinterpreted' to mean what you actually said (i.e. the person you're talking to isn't smart enough to know what you meant was something else, which you didn't say, but was in your brain at the time) then that's their problem.

So yeah, I expect Trumpians get what Ali al-Bukhayti means.