Iran's Parliament Says 'Death to America' Chant Is the 'Symbol of the Islamic Republic'

As he was concluding the calamitous nuclear agreement with Iran last summer, John Kerry asked the Iranians to cut out the “Death to America” chants. (This was not long before he told an astonished world that the chants did not really mean that the Iranian mullahs wanted to kill us.)

In yet another indication of just how disastrous the nuclear deal really is, the Iranians have not only rejected Kerry’s request, but are ramping up the genocidal rhetoric. On Monday, 192 of the 290 members of the Iranian Majlis (Parliament) declared:

The martyr-nurturing nation of Iran is not at all prepared to abandon the slogan of “Death to America” under the pretext of a nuclear agreement.

Remember: in an Islamic context, a “martyr” is not simply someone who dies for his faith. It is is someone who takes hold of the Qur’an’s promise of Paradise to those who “kill and are killed” for Allah (9:111). If the Iranian nation is “martyr-nurturing,” it is raising a generation of killers.

The assembled parliamentarians added that “Death to America” — which according to Agence France Presse is “chanted at the weekly Friday prayers in mosques and at protests” — had “turned into the symbol of the Islamic Republic and all struggling nations.”

Chanting “Death to America” is the “symbol of the Islamic Republic.” A communal desire to destroy the United States and commit mass murder of its citizens is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s very reason for being.

It is interesting to note that death is also the chief preoccupation of Iran’s hated Sunni rival, the Islamic State (ISIS), whose operatives have repeatedly addressed Americans with the boast:

We will win, for we love death more than you love life.

Both the Islamic State and Iran love death and wish to bring it to us; they just differ as to whether the coup de grace will be administered to us by Sunni or Shi’ite hands.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, whom AFP assures us is a “moderate,” tried to sell the chant as an expression of the legitimate frustration of the long-suffering Iranian people:

This slogan that is chanted is not a slogan against the American people. Our people respect the American people. But … the policies of the United States have been against the national interests of Iranian people (so) it’s understandable that people will demonstrate sensitivity to this issue.

“Sensitivity.” With this word, Rouhani demonstrates that he knows the right buttons to push to get the Western intelligentsia dancing to his bidding: tell them that if the U.S. just starts being nicer, all the frustration that boils over in these poor dears into “Death to America” chants will melt away.

Now that we have this Iran nuclear deal, we should expect an outpouring of good will from the Iranians, no? Well, not only did the majority of Iran’s parliamentarians just endorse “Death to America” as the “symbol of the Islamic Republic,” but Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the following on Sunday:

Contrary to certain people’s belief, the U.S. is the cause of the major portion of regional problems and is not part of the solution to the problems. Americans want to impose their views rather than solve problems. They want to impose 60 to 70 percent of their demands in talks and practically implement and impose the rest of their goals illegally. So what can such negotiations mean?

Khamenei continued with boasting:

[T]he Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy has acted as impenetrable rock against the domineering nature of hegemonic powers, especially the U.S., in the region. [Iran’s foreign policy is] based on Islam and stems from the aspirations and goals of the [Islamic] revolution.

A foreign policy that its framers believe to be “based on Islam” — that is, based on principles that are believed to be eternal and unchangeable — is unlikely to change significantly in the near future. And if a majority of Iran’s parliamentarians believe that “Death to America” is nothing less than the “symbol of the Islamic Republic,” then Khamenei’s question is pointed: “What can such negotiations mean?”

Nothing. Except more bloodshed.