Death to America, Death to Iran

Bird's-eye view; from left, Mark, John, Dan, myself, Sayed and David
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Friday prayers, University of Tehran. The steel-framed roof is built over what was once the soccer field, three sides open, the enormous floor blanketed with prayer rugs. Before we get to this, however, our group was ushered through security by way of a VIP entrance reserved for press agents, officials, and even Achmedinejad himself. The women members were led away to the area on the floor designated for females; apparently no women allowed in the press area. We were then led up a stairway to the platform that overlooked the floor where thousands were now gathering, and the pulpit next to us, from where Imam Kashani, ranking member of the Guardians Council, would give first a spiritual, then a political address. We were handed headphones for translation. I secured mine, but you had to be facing a particular direction, away from the crowd, in order to hear. So I didn't listen much to the first half, instead mesmerized by the masses below, their movements, the synchronized waves of bows and surges. TV cameras captured the event for live broadcast.

Imam Kashani addressing the masses
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There was stratification to the crowd groupings: ministers and high officials in front; next, war vets, followed by families of martyrs, and finally, the general public. When I asked Sayed where Achmedinejad sat, thinking he might have some special platform, he told me that the president went out into the crowd of ordinary people. Often you can spot him because people crowd around to shake his hand. Today, however, there was no visible sign of him.

*Photos by Dan Smith (I forgot to put the SD card back in my camera!)

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I again fixed the headset once the oratory turned political. The translator spoke slowly, soporifically, as if constantly fighting a yawn. You wanted to find him and shake him to life. Still, the translation came, desultory and monotone, but the impact was in the words themselves, starting with a quote from the Qoran that referred to the creation of the earth, the slab on which it was formed, the rivers and streams that cut across it. The mountains and the green pastures. You know, Creation. From there, the connection was made that Allah intended all the earth's resources for man's use. Now take the next leap to nuclear energy. Here, Kashani spoke of the peaceful use of it Iran was pursuing, and America's inability to understand Iran and Islam. Because if we did, we would know that atomic weapons are against Islamic law.

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Now, bring in Joe Biden. Yes, Joe Biden. It came out of his mouth, I heard it myself. Joe Biden. Why Joe? Because apparently Joe stated that if he became president of the United States-- "Are you listening Iran?" Kashani roared, interrupting only himself. "Are you listening Islamic countries?" Then quoting Biden: "I would look into the cracks of Iranian society and try to resolve the differences."

"The enemy wants to use these cracks that might be existing against us," added the imam. He went on to state that the U.S. armies are scattered, and basically stated that Bush is scrambling to complete his agenda.

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"Torturing centers and bloodshed are the representations of the laws of the U.S., only thinking of themselves and their own interests....the slogans of the U.S. are inflammatory and hostile."

At some point came the obligatory chant you can set your watch by, "Death to America." My brother asked me to listen carefully, to determine whether or not it was heartfelt. The women later reported the Islamic females were about as interested as if they'd been dragged to a football game. But as for the men, who by far outnumbered the women, I would say they were cheering as if for a touchdown. It didn't last long, but with 5,000-7,000 in attendance, it was powerful.

Kashimi went on to describe how Shi'a laws are deep, deeper even that the Sunni's, and those laws finally should be seen as advanced. They don't operate out of self-interest or act out of hostility towards other nations; "Who has Iran ever acted against?" he asked his audience. "If the U.S. attacks our nuclear facilities and targets our sites, we have 70 million people committed to defending this nation. Hezbollah held back Israel last year with much less--how then will the U.S. fare against Iran?"

Not long after that, the oratory ended with a prayer, and we disassembled.

The only reference I could find for Biden referring to the "cracks" in Iran was in the opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Iran, last March, when they approved a resolution introducing more sanctions:

Since then, you have secured two unanimous UN Security Council resolutions sanctioning Iran for its defiance on its nuclear program.

The sanctions are modest, but their effect has been disproportionate. They have highlighted Iran's international isolation and they have helped reveal cracks in Iran.

But it's not, ultimately, Biden's remarks that are at the heart of this war of words that has been raging for years. It's a call-and-answer ritual involving both sides. But it's worth examining the context of Death to America. Sean Penn was criticized for his suggestion that Americans took it too literally. But he's right; we do. We sit on our couches and channel surf through CNN and hear Iranians chanting this, and think, 9-11. They're out to get me. They want me dead.

On PBS's News Hour some months ago a woman reporter was covering a demonstration in Tehran, where US effigies were burned, anti-American slogans chanted, etc. Afterward, the reporter went to speak with some of the demonstrators. She introduced herself as an American, and the Iranians seemed thrilled, greeting her enthusiastically. "But just a few moments ago you were shouting 'Death to America.' Now you're glad to meet me?" she asked. The demonstrators waved it off. "Oh, that's just about the CIA."

Other Iranians have suggested the same. "Death to America" isn't literally 'death to all Americans', because Americans are well liked here, and you can't run into an Iranian who doesn't have friends or relatives living somewhere in or around Orange County, California. It has to do with the U.S. government interfering with Iranian politics and society. Remember, it was the U.S. that engineered the 1953 coup that overthrew Mossadegh and returned the Shah to power. They remembered that in 1979, when the revolutionaries overtook the embassy.

But maybe 'Death to America' is a poor choice of words. We don't say 'death to Iran.' Not so blatantly. But perhaps Kashami has a point when he said that "the slogans of the U.S. are inflammatory and hostile." We have our own way of saying it, and they hear it loud and clear.