On Monday, authorities in Tehran concluded their formal celebrations of the revolution that birthed the Islamic Republic 40 years ago. A huge state-sponsored procession marched through the capital to Azadi Square, where President Hassan Rouhani spoke. The regime's leaders are hailing the anniversary as a moment of maturity for the uprising that broke some 25 centuries of monarchic rule, sweeping away the reviled U.S.-backed shah and ultimately installing a theocratic state.
To that end, they have also persisted with some of their most familiar rhetoric. "As long as America continues its wickedness, the Iranian nation will not abandon 'Death to America'," the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said to a gathering of Iranian Air Force officers last week.