CNN published an article on Wednesday asserting that when Iranians chant “death to America,” they don’t actually mean they want Americans to die.
According to CNN, the chant is not as awful as it seems because Iranians are lashing out at the United States’ policies and leaders rather than its everyday citizens. Nonetheless, the Iranians they spoke to expressed a deep disdain for the U.S. government and the country as a whole.
“But they [USA] don’t act justly. We don’t count in Mr Trump’s eyes. He has problems with the government, but what’s my sin? We don’t count,” one Iranian, identified only as Rahimi, said.
“The people of USA are very respectable. When we chant ‘death to America,’ it’s to the government of America not the people,” Sajud Ibrahimi added, trying to justify the violent chant. “We have no problem with the people of the USA.”
The article mirrored a similar piece by USA Today written in 2015, which argued that, “In Iran, ‘death to America’ doesn’t mean what you think.”