Iranians React Warmly to Obama Video, Chant 'Death to America'

In case you missed it, in between making basketball picks, yukking it up with Jay Leno and insulting Special Olympians, the clueless Barack Obama sent a video greeting to Iranians the other day (just imagine if he was so gracious to Republicans).

Naturally, the Iranians greeted his pandering with contempt.

Khamenei enumerated a long list of Iranian grievances against the United States over the past 30 years and said the U.S. was still interfering in Iranian affairs.

He mentioned U.S. sanctions against Iran, U.S. support for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during his 1980-88 war against Iran and the downing of an Iranian airliner over the Persian Gulf in 1988.

He also accused the U.S. of provoking ethnic tension in Iran and said Washington's accusations that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons are a sign of U.S. hostility. Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, like energy production, not for building weapons.

"Have you released Iranian assets? Have you lifted oppressive sanctions? Have you given up mudslinging and making accusations against the great Iranian nation and its officials? Have you given up your unconditional support for the Zionist regime? Even the language remains unchanged," Khamenei said.

Khamenei, wearing a black turban and dark robes, said America was hated around the world for its arrogance, as the crowd chanted "Death to America."

Yup, that really worked out well.

Reader Dan Friedman delivers the snark.

Asked for the White House reaction, spokesman Robert Gibbs said, “The President welcomes Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s positive response to our recent YouTube video. This is just that canny rug salesman's way of playing hard to get. The President will have more to say when he guest-hosts the Colbert Report this Wednesday night, 8 Central, 9 Eastern”.

Ouch.