Iranian professor defends death to America chants as anti-empire not anti-American people

What was said

"Death to America and Iran, and I may have said this on your show before is shouldn't be taken literally. It's like saying Yankee go home doesn't mean that anyone who carries a US passport should leave the country. When they say death to America, they mean death to the US empire and they mean death to this oppressive regime which slaughters our children."

Mohammad Marandi, professor at Tehran University, defended massive street protests featuring death to America and death to Israel chants as legitimate expressions of anger at U.S. and Israeli policies. He claimed the phrases should not be taken literally but as opposition to imperial oppression. Marandi also claimed the millions-strong funeral procession for Ayatollah Khamenei proved high regime legitimacy.