Iran vowed 'death to America' and its leaders for decades before Trump wiped out nuclear facilities

"Yes, it will happen. Death to America will happen," Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared in 2022, the Middle East Media Research Institute reported at the time. "Some people say: By chanting 'Death to America,' you bring America's animosity upon yourself. I say that this is not true. When America began its hostility towards Iran, nobody had been chanting 'Death to America.'"

"Death to America," or "marg bar Amreeka" in Farsi, is a slogan that originated back in the 1970s, the Associated Press previously reported. 

Protesters chanted the slogan amid the Iranian Revolution, when the country's shah was overthrown in 1979 and Iran's monarchy was abolished and replaced by its current government, the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

"The hatred and rage of the Muslim people is directed toward America, the infidel Satanic regime," Iranians chanted in 2007 ahead of a speech by then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with world powers such as the U.S. in 2015 that aimed to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the U.S., U.N. and European Union lifting sanctions on the country. Trump pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018, arguing it was weak and would not prevent Iran from building its nuclear program, and instead reinstated sanctions on the country. 

Amid the 2015 discussions on the JCPOA, Khamenei declared again, "death to America" while rallying support for the agreement, the New York Post reported in March 2015.

"Sanctions must be lifted immediately," Khamenei said to crowds of people that year as he endorsed the agreement. 

The crowd broke out into chants of "death to America," sparking Khamenei to respond: "Of course, yes, death to America, because America is the original source of this pressure."

Following the signing of the agreement in July 2015, Khamenei attempted to argue that the slogan did not mean literal death to American citizens, but the death of U.S. policies. 

"Your 'Death to America' slogan, and the cries by the Iranian nation, have strong logical support behind them," he told Iranians in Tehran, according to the Associated Press. "Obviously by 'Death to America', we don't mean death to the American people. The American nation is just like the rest of the nations. It ... means death to U.S. policies and its arrogance."

The ayatollah, however, doubled-down in 2019 that "death to America" meant the deaths of U.S. leaders such as Trump. 

"'Death to America' means death to Trump and John Bolton and Pompeo," Khamenei said in 2019, according to the New York Times, referring to Trump's then-national security advisor John Bolton, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

"It means death to American leaders, who happen to be these people at this time," he added.

The slogan has been accompanied by similar "death" calls on Israel and protesters burning American flags on the streets of Tehran while holding photos honoring Khamenei. 

The slogan most recently has been used since Israel launched preemptive strikes on Iran on June 12 following months of stalled negotiations related to Iran's nuclear program and mounting concern the Islamic Republic would imminently have their hands on a nuclear weapon. The U.S. did not actively participate in the strikes on June 12 and the subsequent days, but warned Iran the U.S. could become involved if Iran did not make a deal for peace. 

"The US President threatens us," Khamenei wrote on X of Trump June 18. "With his absurd rhetoric, he demands that the Iranian people surrender to him. They should make threats against those who are afraid of being threatened. The Iranian nation isn't frightened by such threats." 

"It isn't wise to tell the Iranian nation to surrender. What should the Iranian nation surrender to?" he continued. "We will never surrender in response to the attacks of anyone."

Trump announced Saturday evening in a surprise Truth Social post that the U.S. had successfully executed strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, which he said were "obliterated" and backed the country into a corner to strike a peace deal. 

Trump specifically cited Iran's decades of calling for America's death in his address to the nation following the successful strikes Saturday evening. 

"I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue," he said. 

On Monday evening, Iran and Israel reached a ceasefire agreement, which Trump described as a massive success ending the "12 Day War."

Tensions are still flaring in the Middle East, as both Israel and Iran accuse each other of violating the ceasefire on Tuesday morning, with Trump urging them to put down their weapons while triumphantly declaring Iran's nuclear capabilities have been crippled. Trump remarked to the media while traveling to a NATO summit at The Hague that he was "not happy" with Israel or Iran for the spiking tensions following the ceasefire agreement. 

"I'm not happy with Israel. You know, when I say, okay, now you have 12 hours, you don't go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So I'm not happy with them. I'm not happy with Iran either, but I'm really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning," Trump said.

"We basically have two countries that have been fighting for so long and so hard that they don't know what the **** they're doing," he added in fiery comment underscored by profanity.