In this picture released by the official website of the office of Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with students in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday.

The slogan “Death to America” is not aimed at the American people, but rather American policies, Iran’s supreme leader said in comments reported on his official website Tuesday.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei discussed the slogan while meeting with Iranian students ahead of the anniversary of the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979. Militant students stormed the compound and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

The two countries have had no diplomatic relations since then. However, current President Hassan Rouhani has made efforts to improve relations, including a landmark nuclear agreement reached with world powers this past summer.

Khamenei says the “aim of the slogan is not death to American people. The slogan means death to US policies and arrogance.” The slogan has “strong support” In Iran, he said.

He reiterated his warning that the US is not to be trusted despite the nuclear deal reached with the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany. The agreement promises Tehran relief from crippling economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Khamenei also expressed his apparent belief that the US “will not hesitate” if given a chance to destroy Iran.

“The nature of the US attitude is continuation of the same hostile aims from the past, and the nation will not forget this,” Khamenei said.

However, anti-American sentiment is rife in Iran. As every year, ahead of the anniversary, the Tehran municipality displays anti-American posters and billboards along the Iranian capital’s main squares and key streets.

One such billboard this year — at Tehran’s Vali-e asr Square — represents a mock-up of the historic and Pulitzer Prize-winning 1945 “Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima” photo by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, one of the iconic images from World War II. Except in the billboard, the hands of the Marines are stained red from blood and instead of rocks and stones, the US troops are standing on a pile of corpses.

Related articles across the web

• 34th annual parade remembers N.J. Medal of Honor recipient
• First Flag on Suribachi - the Iwo Jima Flag Raising
• Report: Iran unveils locally-made reconnaissance drone
• Veterans prepare to board honor flight to Washington D.C.
• Iran unveils locally-made reconnaissance drone
• Report: Iran unveils indigenous reconnaissance drone
• Kansas veterans leave Wichita on Honor Flight
• Report: UN nuclear chief arrives in Iran
• UN nuclear chief arrives in Iran
• Iran seeks 'fair' treatment from UN nuclear agency