‘It’s nothing personal’: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani tries to explain ‘Death to America’ chant
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Rouhani said the Friday ritual is a reaction to previous Washington policy decisions that hurt Iran.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has tried to reassure a skeptical American public that when crowds in Tehran chant “Death to America!” they don’t mean it personally are just sensitive.
In an interview with the CBS show 60 Minutes to be broadcast today in the United States, the Iranian president said the famous Friday ritual is a reaction to previous Washington policy decisions that hurt Iran.
In April, US President Barack Obama’s administration signed a deal with Rouhani’s government to release Iran from many of the economic sanctions harming its economy in return for tight controls on its nuclear programme.
But many in the United States are still convinced that Iran, which is ultimately led not by Rouhani but by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, remains bent on their country’s destruction.
In the fierce domestic American debate over the deal, opponents have often cited the regular appearance of chanting anti-American crowds as evidence of Tehran’s true intentions.
But Rouhani, seen as a moderate reformer by the standards of the Islamic republic, attempted to reassure his CBS interviewer Steve Kroft and the wider audience.