> It is also worth noting the Iranian supreme leaders (there have only been two) are not Ayatollahs. I see these terms falsely conjoined many times in the comments here. Comparatively the Ayatollahs, or specifically the Grand Ayatollahs, are quite moderate compared to the fundamentalists In political power. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Khamenei

Yeah..."Mr Death To America" Himself is a moderate... I see why you used a throwaway.

I’d told that “Death to X!” is a cultural hyperbole better read as “Down with X!” - sounds terrible to westerners read literally, but isn’t actually that strong.

Except when you advocate for political violence people are apt to take your words seriously. And this is literally Iran we're talking about here: #1 in state-sponsored terrorism.

Intelligence has confirmed that Khamenei has been aware of terrorist plots before they were carried out, such as the Mykonos restaurant assassination.

So yes, keep telling us all what a moderate he is.

I was surprised to hear this, since Khomeini was so commonly referred to as "Ayatollah" in the media. Wikipedia[0] still says his title was "Grand Ayatollah," but what appears to be his official memorial web site[1] calls him "Imam Khomeini."

(Unrelated, but interesting to consider he was only in power for about 10 years, and has been dead for more than 30.)

[0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhollah_Khomeini

[1]: http://en.imam-khomeini.ir/en/n3733/Imam/Who_is_Imam_khomein...