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{{Short description|Post-1979 Iranian epithet for the United States}}
{{For|the band and the album|Big Satan|The Great Satan (album)}}
[[File:TheGreatSatan.png|thumb|''The'' ''Great Satan'' by [[Carlos Latuff]]]]
{{Politics of Iran}}

"'''Great Satan'''" ({{langx|fa|شيطان بزرگ|Sheytân-e Bozorg}}) is a derogatory epithet used in [[Iran]] to refer to the [[United States]]. Alongside the "[[Death to America]]" slogan, it originated in Iran during the [[Iranian Revolution|Islamic Revolution]]. While it is primarily an expression of [[Anti-Americanism|anti-American sentiment]], it has occasionally been used to refer to the [[United Kingdom]], although the term "[[old fox]]" is more popular as a dedicated expression of [[anti-British sentiment]].

The epithet was coined by Iranian religious leader [[Ruhollah Khomeini]], who used it in a speech on 5 November 1979, one day after the onset of the [[Iran hostage crisis]]. In the speech, he condemned the United States as an imperialist power that sponsored corruption throughout the world.<ref>{{cite speech
 | url = http://emam.com/posts/view/15718/Speech
 | title = American plots against Iran 
 | last = Khomeini
 | first = Ruhollah
 | date = 5 November 1979
 | event= Iranian Central Insurance Office Staff
 | location=Qum
 | series=Imam's Sahifeh
 | volume= 10
 | pages= 344–348
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522133828/http://emam.com/posts/view/15718/Speech/
 | access-date=22 May 2016 |archive-date=22 May 2016
 | quote = In this revolution, the Great Satan is America that gathers around other devils blatantly...If we see the US, this great Satan, raising chain and bringing the devils together around him, it is because the US grip over our country and our resources curtailed.}}</ref> Khomeini introduced the epithet as the larger of a pair, using the term "[[Little Satan]]" to refer to [[Israel]], particularly in the context of [[Israel–United States relations]]. In the context of the [[Cold War]], Khomeini used the related term "Lesser Satan" to refer to the [[Soviet Union]], and asserted that revolutionary Iran should oppose the Americans and the Soviets alike.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

== Background ==
The [[government of the Islamic Republic of Iran]] has a long history of espousing [[anti-Western sentiment]] as a result of interference in Iranian affairs by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British]] and [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. governments]]. In 1907, an [[Anglo-Russian Convention|agreement]] signed between the [[British Empire|British]] and [[Russian Empire|Russian]] empires divided Iran into spheres of influence, infuriating Iranian public opinion. 46 years later in 1953, in response to the decision by [[Prime Minister of Iran|Iranian Prime Minister]] [[Mohammad Mossadeq]] to nationalize the [[petroleum industry in Iran]], the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] organized a [[1953 Iranian coup d'état|coup d'état]] to overthrow his administration in favor of a pro-Western leader, Shah [[Mohammed Reza Pahlavi]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Risen |first=James |date=16 April 2000 |title=SECRETS OF HISTORY: The C.I.A. in Iran -- A special report.; How a Plot Convulsed Iran in '53 (and in '79) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/16/world/secrets-history-cia-iran-special-report-plot-convulsed-iran-53-79.html?pagewanted=all |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=21 May 2016 |archive-date=2 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902103627/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/16/world/secrets-history-cia-iran-special-report-plot-convulsed-iran-53-79.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower administration]] was concerned that Mossadeq's [[Iranian nationalism|nationalist aspirations]] could lead to an eventual [[Communism|communist]] takeover of Iran. After widespread rioting and with help from the CIA and MI6, Mossadeq was defeated and the Shah returned to power, ensuring support for Western oil interests in Iran and ending the perceived threat of communist expansion. General [[Fazlollah Zahedi]], who led the military coup, became prime minister.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/08/19/cia-admits-it-was-behind-irans-coup/|title=The Battle for Iran (excerpt)|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=Foreign Policy Magazine|date=c. 1975|access-date=20 May 2016|quote=Complete secrecy about the operation that was known under the cryptonym of TPAJAX has been impossible to enforce...[T]he military coup that overthrew Mosadeq and his National Front cabinet was carried out under CIA direction as an act of U.S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government.|author=Staff writer(s)|archive-date=17 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217150740/https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/08/19/cia-admits-it-was-behind-irans-coup/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB28/appendix%20D.pdf
 | title = CIA Clandestine Service History, "Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran, November 1952-August 1953," March 1954, by Dr. Donald Wilber.
 | last = Wilber
 | first = Donald
 | date = March 1954
 | access-date = 20 May 2016
 | quote = In early summer of 1953 Carroll was assigned the task of planning military aspects of TPAJAX. Several assumptions first had to be taken into account: A. Operation would be joint operation with SIS.
 | archive-date = 19 July 2017
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170719143716/http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB28/appendix%20D.pdf
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB28/summary.pdf
 | title = CIA Clandestine Service History, 'Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran, November 1952-August 1953,' March 1954, by Dr. Donald Wilber.
 | last = Wilber
 | first = Donald
 | date = March 1954
 | access-date = 20 May 2016
 | page = iv
 | quote = An estimate entitled 'Factors Involved in the Overthrow of Mossadeq' was completed on 16 April 1953... In April it was determined that the CIA should conduct the envisioned operation jointly with the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). By the end of April, it was decided that CIA and SIS officers would draw up a plan… which would be submitted to CIA and SIS Headquarters, and to the Department of State and the Foreign Office for final approval.
 | archive-date = 7 August 2017
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170807223904/http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB28/summary.pdf
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref><ref name="Watry2014">{{cite book|author=David M. Watry|title=Diplomacy at the Brink: Eisenhower, Churchill, and Eden in the Cold War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OnqOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA93|date=10 December 2014|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-5719-0|page=93}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | url = https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/pg_346
 | title = Telegram from The Secretary of State to the Embassy in Iran. (Memo of conversation 1 February 1952 between U.S. Department of State and British representatives regarding the Iranian political situation)
 | last = Acheson
 | first = Dean
 | date = 7 February 1952
 | publisher = Office of the Historian of the United States Department of State
 | access-date = 20 May 2016
 | quote = Although Mosadeq [will] not likely turn toward Russia it is highly improbable that he will do anything [to] check communism in Iran since his ideas of polit[ical] tolerance, neutrality, and fear of offending [the] USSR w[ou]ld prevent his taking action vs Tudeh regardless [of the] outcome [of] the oil question and request[s for] US financial assistance.
 | archive-date = 12 April 2021
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210412231405/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/pg_346
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | url = https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/pg_416
 | title = The Ambassador in Iran (Henderson) to the Department of State, repeated to London
 | last = Henderson
 | first = Loy
 | date = 28 July 1952
 | publisher = Office of the Historian of the United States Department of State
 | access-date = 20 May 2016
 | quote = ...I could not but be discouraged at [the] thought that [a] person [Mosadeq] so lacking in stability and clearly dominated by emotions and prejudices sh[ou]ld represent [the] only bulwark left between Iran and communism... at one point I almost decided to abandon our conv[ersation] when he r[e]p[ea]t[e]d again and again in monotone that 'Iran w[ou]ld never, never want UK and US to have any differences over it. Iran w[ou]ld prefer [to] go Communist than cause any trouble between US and UK.'
 | archive-date = 13 April 2021
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210413142936/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/pg_416
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | url = https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/pg_420
 | title = The Ambassador in Iran (Henderson) to the Department of State, repeated to London
 | last = Henderson
 | first = Loy
 | date = 28 July 1952
 | publisher = Office of the Historian of the United States Department of State
 | access-date = 20 May 2016
 | quote = At this point Mosadeq began to chant that Iran w[ou]ld prefer to go communist than for US and UN [UK] to have differences of opinion with regard to it. Eventually I was able to tell him that US choice was not merely between US-UK friction and Iran going Communist. I stressed that if serious misunderstandings sh[ou]ld develop in present world situation between US and UK, Iran would go Communist anyway.
 | archive-date = 13 April 2021
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210413150654/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/pg_420
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | url = https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/d339
 | title = FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1952–1954. IRAN, 1951–1954: VOLUME X No. 339 Editorial Note regarding Department of State Bulletin 10 August 1953, page 178
 | author = Staff writer(s)
 | date = 28 July 1953
 | publisher = Office of the Historian of the United States Department of State
 | access-date = 20 May 2016
 | quote = Secretary Dulles held a press conference on July 28. In response to a reporter's question about the growing strength of the Tudeh Party in Iran, the Secretary replied as follows: 'Recent developments in Iran, especially the growing activity of the illegal Communist party, which appears to be tolerated by the Iranian Government have caused us concern. These developments make it more difficult for the United States to give assistance to Iran so long as its government tolerates this sort of activity.'
 | archive-date = 1 August 2020
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200801063012/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/d339
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | url = https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/d358
 | title = No. 358 Memorandum of Discussion at the 160th Meeting of the National Security Council, Washington, August 27, 1953
 | last = Gleason
 | first = Sarell
 | date = 17 September 1953
 | publisher = Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers, Whitman file
 | via = Office of the Historian of the United States Department of State
 | access-date = 20 May 2016
 | quote = Secretary [of State John Foster] Dulles commented that while what happened in Iran was spontaneous, he did feel obliged to say that a number of people in Iran had kept their heads and maintained their courage when the situation looked very tough... As a result of what had happened, Secretary Dulles informed the Council, the United States now had a 'second chance' in Iran when all hope of avoiding a Communist Iran appeared to have vanished.
 | archive-date = 15 October 2020
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201015053627/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/d358
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> The operation was code-named [[Operation Ajax]]. At first, the military coup seemed to fail, and Shah [[Mohammed Reza Pahlavi]] fled the country.<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Key Events in the 1953 Coup
 | last = Risen
 | first = James
 | date = 16 April 2000
 | url = https://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-coup-timeline.html
 | work = The New York Times
 | access-date = 21 May 2016
 | quote = Aug. 16, 1953…The shah flees to Baghdad.
 | archive-date = 6 September 2017
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170906200810/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-coup-timeline.html
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | url = https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/d345
 | title = Telegram No. 343 The Ambassador in Iraq (Berry) to the Department of State
 | last = Berry
 | first = Burton Y.
 | date = 17 August 1953
 | publisher = Office of the Historian of the U.S. Department of State
 | access-date = 21 May 2016
 | quote = On the third day Mosadeq by some means had been alerted and had had the time to take successful countermeasures so that when the Colonel arrived at Mosadeq's house he was himself arrested...This morning the Shah left his Caspian Palace in a Beechcraft with a pilot, one Palace official and his Queen and landed in Baghdad at 10:15. He said that he thought that he should not stay here more than a few days, but would then go to Europe and he hoped eventually to America. He added he would be looking for work shortly as he has a large family and very small means outside of Iran. I tried to boost his morale by saying that I hoped that soon he would return to reign over his people for whom he had done so much, but he replied that Mosadeq was absolutely mad and insanely jealous, like a tiger who springs upon any living thing that it sees moving above him. Shah believes Mosadeq thinks he can form a partnership with the [Communist] Tudeh Party and then outwit it, but in so doing Mosadeq will become the Dr. [Edvard] Bene[š] of Iran.
 | archive-date = 4 October 2021
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211004143345/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v10/d345
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref>

In 1965, [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] was exiled for criticizing the [[White Revolution]]'s decision to extend the franchise to women, initiate land reforms and the Shah's unpopular<ref>{{cite book|author1=Carsten Stahn|author2=Jennifer S. Easterday|author3=Jens Iverson|title=Jus Post Bellum: Mapping the Normative Foundations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0MXRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA468|date=13 February 2014|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-150938-4|pages=468|quote=It is not uncommon for status questions to act as a lightning rod for…grievances of the local population…A vivid example is offered by Ayatollah Khomeini's speech of 26 October 1964 (Speech 16) denouncing the extension of diplomatic immunities to American military personnel in Iran.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url          = https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v22/d67
 |title        = 67. Memorandum From the Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (Hughes) to Secretary of State Rusk; SUBJECT: The Significance of the Assassination of Prime Minister Hasan Ali Mansur
 |last         = Hughes
 |first        = Thomas L.
 |date         = 28 January 1965
 |publisher    = Johnson Library, National Security File, Robert W. Komer Files, Iran, 1965–March 1966.
 |via          = Office of the Historian of the U.S. Secretary of State
 |access-date  = 21 May 2016
 |quote        = There is considerable discontent in Iran because of continued repression of opposition groups, exile of Ayatollah Khomeini, unpopular measures passed by the government such as the recent Status of Forces Bill, and the increase in the cost of basic fuels.
 |archive-date = 4 October 2021
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20211004141540/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v22/d67
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref> Status of Forces Bill, which gave U.S. military personnel [[diplomatic immunity]] for crimes committed in Iran.<ref>{{cite web
 | url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/etc/cron.html
 | title = Chronology: U.S.–Iran relations 1906-2002
 | author = Staff writer(s)
 | date = 2014
 | publisher = PBS News\Frontline
 | access-date = 21 May 2016
 | quote = 1964... Khomeini is exiled to Turkey for his outspoken denunciation of the shah's Status of Forces bill, which grants U.S. military personnel diplomatic immunity for crimes committed on Iranian soil.
 | archive-date = 19 April 2021
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210419203425/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/etc/cron.html
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> By the early 1970s, many Iranians opposed the Shah's government.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve04/d180
 |title        = Central Intelligence Agency\Directorate of Intelligence\Intelligence Report\Centers of Power in Iran
 |author       = Staff writer(s)
 |date         = May 1972
 |website      = 
 |publisher    = Source: Central Intelligence Agency, OCI Files, Job 79T00832A, Box 9, 46. Secret; No Foreign Dissem. Prepared in the Office of Current Intelligence and coordinated within CIA.
 |via          = State Department Office of the Historian
 |access-date  = 21 May 2016
 |quote        = [P]laying an essentially negative role at present... are the clergy, whose strength lies in the emotions of the Iranian masses and whose opposition to the Shah's government is nearly total...Detailed information on the clergy is not available. There are perhaps 100,000 clergymen ranging from the mullah, the lowest clerical post, to the mojtahed.
 |archive-date = 27 March 2021
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20210327102243/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve04/d180
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref> Khomeini eventually returned to Iran and led the [[1979 Iranian revolution]]. During the Iranian Revolution, demonstrators commonly chanted slogans such as "Death to Shah," "Independence, Freedom, Islamic Republic,"<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff writer(s)|date=7 December 2009 |title=How Iran's opposition inverts old slogans |url= https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8386335.stm |publisher=BBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102053922/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8386335.stm |archive-date=2 January 2010 |access-date= 21 May 2016|url-status=live|quote=One of the big anti-Shah chants ended with the slogan "Death to Shah!"...A main revolutionary cry was: "Estaghlal, Azadi, Jomhuriye Eslami" (Eng: Independence, Freedom, Islamic Republic).}}</ref> and "[[Death to America]]".<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff writer(s) |title=IRAN LEADERS BACK U.S. EMBASSY SEIZURE; Khomeini's Son Tells Students All American Ties Should Be Cut |work=The New York Times|quote=Students Shout "Death to America!"…Tens of thousands of students surrounded the American Embassy compound today shouting anti-American slogans such as "Death to America!"... |agency=Reuters |location=Teheran |date=6 November 1979|pages=A1, A12}}</ref>

== Definition ==

=== Great Satan (United States) ===
Khomeini is quoted as saying on November 5, 1979, "[America is] the great Satan, the wounded snake."<ref>Christopher Buck, ''Religious myths and visions of America: how minority faiths redefined America's world role'', page 136 [https://books.google.com/books?id=E8Cd5sfApM4C&pg=PA136]</ref> The term was used extensively during and after the [[Islamic Revolution]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20011119140521/http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/jfq_pubs/1509.pdf Iran & the Great Satan]</ref> and it continues to be used in some Iranian political circles. Use of the term at rallies is often accompanied by shouts of "Marg bar Amrika!" ("Death to America"). It is used in academic journals.<ref>{{cite journal|title=America's foreign policy: Manifest Destiny or Great Satan?|journal=Contemporary Politics}}</ref>

=== Lesser Satan (Soviet Union) ===
Khomeini called the [[Soviet Union]], the principal antagonist of the US during the [[Cold War]], the "'''Lesser Satan'''" because of its [[State atheism|atheistic]] [[Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|communist ideology]], and he said that Iran should support neither side of the [[Cold War]].<ref name="katz2010">{{cite book |title=The Iran Primer: Power, Politics, and U.S. Policy |publisher=United States Institute of Peace |editor=Wright, Robin B. |pages=186 |chapter=Iran and Russia |author=Katz, Mark N. |year=2010 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDgwl59s_hUC&pg=PA186 |isbn=978-1-60127-084-9 |access-date=2020-11-28 |archive-date=2024-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240904222222/https://books.google.com/books?id=MDgwl59s_hUC&pg=PA186#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Little Satan (Israel) ===
The [[State of Israel]] was condemned as the "[[Little Satan]]" in 1979 by Khomeini when he was addressing Israel's backing of the Shah, its close ties to the US, and the ongoing [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]. Former Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] also stated that "Israel is the little Satan" in a July 1980 interview.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/This-Week-in-History-Ayatollah-Khomeini-returns-to-Iran | title=This Week in History: Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran - Features | work=The Jerusalem Post | date=4 February 2011 | access-date=24 January 2015 | archive-date=11 February 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211090115/https://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/This-Week-in-History-Ayatollah-Khomeini-returns-to-Iran | url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Iran–United States relations]]
* [[Devil (Islam)]]
* [[Anti-American sentiment]]
* [[Criticism of Israel|Anti-Israeli sentiment]]
** [[Little Satan]]
* [[Anti-British sentiment]]
** [[Old fox]]
* [[American Islam (term)]]
* [[America can't do a damn thing against us]]
* [[Evil Empire speech]]

== References and notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wikt|Great Satan}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
* {{Commons category-inline|America is the Great Satan}}
* [http://www.worldtrek.org/odyssey/mideast/042600/042600kavispies.html The Great Satan] by Kavitha Rao, April 26, 2000
* [https://www.theguardian.com/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,,1415966,00.html 'Great Satan' warned of a burning hell] by [[Ian Black (journalist)|Ian Black]], [[The Guardian]], February 16, 2005
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050404213352/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101021111-386942,00.html How the "Great Satan" Became Just Great]

{{Ruhollah Khomeini}}
{{Iran–United States relations}}

[[Category:Anti-Americanism]]
[[Category:Anti-imperialism]]
[[Category:Anti-Western sentiment]]
[[Category:Iran–United States relations]]
[[Category:Political pejoratives]]
[[Category:Iranian political phrases]]
[[Category:Political terminology of Iran]]
[[Category:Political quotes]]
[[Category:Ruhollah Khomeini]]
[[Category:Propaganda in Iran]]
[[Category:1979 quotations]]