other cities. Usage in the Middle East Supporters of Hezbollah, the Shi'a Islamic militant group based in Lebanon that is closely aligned to Iran, regularly chant "Death to America" in street demonstrations. A week before the March 20, 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah declared, "In the past, when the Marines were in Beirut, we screamed, 'Death to America!' Today, when the region is being filled with hundreds of thousands of American soldiers, 'Death to America!' was, is and will stay our slogan." The slogan of the Houthis, a Shiite rebel group in Yemen also supported by Iran, is "God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, A curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam." Interpretation and meaning Mohammad Nahavandian, chief of staff for Iranian (former) President Hassan Rouhani has said that: "Regarding the words 'Death to America', we mean American politics, not the American people", says Hussein al Hamran, head of Foreign Relations for Ansar Allah (Houthis). Ali al-Bukhayti, a former spokesperson and official media face of the Houthis, has said: "We do not really want death to anyone. The slogan is simply against the interference of those governments [i.e. US, and Israel]". Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has also dismissed the literal interpretation of the slogan, stating that the slogan is to express opposition to US intrusive policies rather than hatred against American people. On 8 February 2019, Ali Khamenei stated "Death to America means death to Trump, Bolton and Pompeo. We criticize American politicians who are managing that country. Iranian nation are not against American people." Travel writer Rick Steves recorded a taxi driver in Tehran exclaiming "Death to traffic!" in English, explaining that "when something frustrates us and we have no control over it, this is what we say". Steves compares the phrase to non-literal use of the word damn in American English. See also Great Satan Global arrogance Iran–United States relations Slogans of the 1979 Iranian Revolution References Anti-Americanism Iran–United States relations Political terminology of Iran 1978 neologisms Ruhollah Khomeini