This compilation brings together three settings at the heart of the Islamic Republic’s political ritual: a speech by the Supreme Leader, a session of parliament, and Friday prayers. In each, officials and audiences chant against the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), which state media calls the monafeghin, or “hypocrites.”

Why it matters

Ritual slogans are not random. “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” have been fixtures for decades, aimed at foreign enemies. A slogan aimed at a domestic opposition group, repeated from the highest pulpits of the state, serves a different purpose. It marks out which internal adversary the regime most wants its loyalists to fear and hate.

Authoritarian systems tend to telegraph their anxieties. When the same name surfaces at the Supreme Leader’s podium, in the legislature and at Friday prayers, in the middle of a nationwide uprising, it shows who the leadership sees as the organized threat behind the unrest. The repetition is itself the message, both to the faithful and to anyone weighing whether to join the protests.

Footage: Iranian state television.