Ali Hosseini Khamenei is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's 35-year-long rule makes him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East, as well as the second-longest-serving Iranian leader of the last century after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Khamenei is a marja', a title given to the highest level of religious cleric in Twelver Shi'ism.
The "Great Satan" is a derogatory epithet used in some Muslim-majority countries to refer to the United States. Alongside the "Death to America" slogan, it originated in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. While it is primarily an expression of anti-American sentiment, it has occasionally been used to refer to the United Kingdom, although the term "old fox" is more popular as a dedicated expression of anti-British sentiment.
Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been embroiled in tense relations with the U.S. and its allies. Following the hostage crisis, both countries severed relations. Since then, both countries have been involved in numerous direct confrontations, diplomatic incidents, and proxy wars throughout the Middle East, which has caused the tense nature of the relationship between the two to be called an 'international crisis'. Both countries have often accused each other of breaking international law on several occasions. The U.S. has often accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and of illegally maintaining a nuclear program, as well as using strong rhetoric against Israel, of which Iran has questioned its legitimacy and its right to exist while supporting Hamas, an antizionist terrorist group in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Iran has often accused the U.S. of human rights violations and of meddling in their affairs, especially within the Iranian Democracy Movement.
The Houthi movement, officially the Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely from the Houthi tribe. The group has been a central player in Yemen's civil war, drawing widespread international condemnation for its human rights abuses, including targeting civilians and using child soldiers. The movement is designated as a terrorist organization by some countries.
The Axis of Resistance is an informal Iranian-led political and military coalition in the Middle East.
Anti-American sentiment in Iran is not new; the chant "Death to America" has been in use in Iran since at least the Islamic revolution in 1979, along with other phrases often represented as anti-American. A 1953 coup which involved the CIA was cited as a grievance. State-sponsored murals characterised as anti-American dot the streets of Tehran. It has been suggested that under Ayatollah Khomeini anti-Americanism was little more than a way to distinguish between domestic supporters and detractors, and even the phrase "Great Satan" which has previously been associated with anti-Americanism, appears to now signify either the United States or the United Kingdom.
Quds Day, officially known as International Quds Day, is an annual pro-Palestinian event held on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to express support for Palestinians and oppose Israel and Zionism. It takes its name from the Arabic name for Jerusalem: al-Quds.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in a proxy conflict over influence in the Middle East and other regions of the Muslim world. The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in nearby conflicts, including the civil wars in Syria and Yemen; and disputes in Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar, and Iraq. The struggle also extends to disputes or broader competition in other countries globally including in West, North and East Africa, South, Central, Southeast Asia, the Balkans, and the Caucasus.
"America can't do a damn thing against us" is a slogan originally used by the former Iranian supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini during the Iran hostage crisis. It was used for the first time to assure the Iranians that the United States would not be able to restore the ousted Shah of Iran back to the Iranian throne. The statement then became an unofficial slogan for the Iranian Revolution, which resulted in the establishment of an Islamic Republic under Khomeini's rule.
The slogan of the Houthi movement, a Shia Islamist political and military organization in Yemen, reads "God Is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse be upon the Jews, Victory to Islam" on a vertical banner of Arabic text. It is often printed on a white background, with the written text in red and green colours derived from the flag of Iran; the pro-Islamic statements are coloured green while the statements about the United States, Israel, and the Jews are coloured red.
Public protests took place in several cities in Iran beginning on 28 December 2017 and continued into early 2018, sometimes called the Dey protests. The first protest took place in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city by population, initially focused on the economic policies of the country's government; as protests spread throughout the country, their scope expanded to include political opposition to the theocratic government of Iran and its longtime Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. The Iranian public showcased their fury in the protests with a wide repertoire of chants aimed at the regime and its leadership. According to The Washington Post, protesters' chants and attacks on government buildings upended a system that had little tolerance for dissent, with some demonstrators even shouting "Death to the dictator!"—referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—and asking security forces to join them.
The 2019–2020 Iranian protests, sometimes known as Bloody November or Bloody Aban, were a series of nationwide civil protests in Iran that took place in 2019 and 2020. Initially caused by a 50–200% increase in fuel prices, they occurred as part of the wider Iranian Democracy Movement, leading to calls for the overthrow of the government in Iran and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The protests commenced as peaceful gatherings on the evening of 15 November but spread to 21 cities within hours, as videos of the protest circulated online, eventually becoming the most violent and severe anti-government unrest since the Iranian revolution in 1979.
Esmail Qaani is an Iranian brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial operations. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, appointed Qaani to succeed Qasem Soleimani as Commander of the Quds Force.
The Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 protests were anti-government protests, forming part of the spillover clashes that took place in January 2020 resulting from the crackdown of the 2019 Iranian protests, which swept Iran in January 2020. The protests took place after it was revealed that Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, on the 8th of January 2020.
The phone conversation between Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani took place on September 27, 2013 during Rouhani's trip to New York. The 15-minute telephone conversation was the first communication between the two countries since ties were severed in 1979. Hundreds of international news agencies and newspapers headlined their news coverage by telephone calls from Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani.
Woman, Life, Freedom is a slogan that originated within the women-led Kurdish movements. This slogan transcended its initial context and garnered global recognition following the 2022 protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, who was in custody of Iran’s morality police for “improper” clothing. The phrase rapidly became a universal rallying cry, symbolizing resistance against oppression and the fight for women's rights.
The Political slogans of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a list of government and anti-government slogans from the beginning of the Iranian Islamic repulic revolution until now. Shortly after the Iranian Islamic republic revolution of 1979 a constitutional referendum held on 2 and 3 December 1979 in Iran. The referendum finished while 99.5% of the votes were "Yes to Islamic Republic", so Iran becames Islamic Republic of Iran.
There have been explicit or implicit expressions, statements, and rhetoric made by individuals, political entities, and factions within Arab and Islamic discourse advocating for the elimination of the State of Israel as a political entity. These calls often involve the use of strong language, genocidal threats, or declarations aiming at the complete eradication of Israel. Such expressions may be manifested in official statements, speeches, charters, or public discourse, reflecting a position that denies the legitimacy of Israel's existence and seeks its destruction through various means, including military or other forms of political and ideological action.
Down with Israel or Death to Israel is a political slogan against Israel, which is also used in Iran and other countries such as Iraq and Mexico. Every year, Iranian pilgrims sing the slogan of "death to Israel" during the Hajj rituals and the ceremony of disavowal of polytheists. This slogan is especially chanted against Israel by demonstrators on Quds Day and is often accompanied by the burning of the Israeli flag. This slogan has also been used in the atmosphere of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran. In the film released from Iran's missile exercise during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, the slogan "Death to Israel" was written on ballistic missiles that were fired at replicas. This slogan in Iran does not mean a mere political slogan, but an expression of the vision of the Iranian government towards Israel's current in the region.
