As the meeting between Iran and P5+1 group on Nov. 7-8 in Geneva nears, political forces that oppose the thawing of US-Iran relations bustle with activity. The move in Iran began last week with the sudden outcrop of anti-American posters around Tehran. One of the images showed an Iranian negotiator facing an American negotiator who had a black attack dog by his side. These were promptly replaced by new banners reflecting Rouhani’s outlook for Iran: "We don't oppress and don't allow being oppressed.”
Meanwhile, there will be a gathering inside the former US Embassy compound Nov. 2 under the banner of, “the great conference of 'down with USA.'” A controversial, ultra-conservative speaker, Hassan Abbasi, has been invited as the keynote speaker of this event. This groundswell of explosive opposition began after the official website of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of the Expediency Council, published a piece from his memoir depicting that Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s revolution leader, supported elimination of the slogan, “Death to America.”
