'Death To America' Not Targeting American Citizens, Iran's Supreme Leader Says

After Iranian protesters made international headlines for chanting "death to America" at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran earlier this week, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei argued that the aggressive phrase does not imply "death to the American people."

The head spiritual leader for the Middle Eastern nation reportedly told a student rally in Tehran this week that the chant is angled more at American policy than American citizens themselves.

"Your 'Death to America' slogan, and the cries by the Iranian nation, have strong logical support behind them," he reportedly told the students, as reported by the Associated Press. "Obviously by 'Death to America,' we don't mean death to the American people. The American nation is just like the rest of the nations. It ... means death to U.S. policies and its arrogance."

Iran made international headlines earlier this week after hundreds of protesters gathered at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran to burn effigies of President Barack Obama and American flags while chanting anti-American slogans.

The rally was also attended by Iranian officials who argued that the former Embassy, which was overrun by militant students in 1979, was actually housing U.S. spies.

"We are here to say, 'down with the USA,'" a schoolteacher attending the protest told NBC News. "We will never [...] let to open this embassy again. It was not embassy — it was a place for spies."

Demonstrators reportedly added that they "consider the U.S. a Great Satan and we believe that fighting the arrogant powers is logical."