"Khomeini had not expressed openly anti-American sentiments while in exile and had barely done so since his return. He bemoaned the United States’ backing of the shah and ranted against Israel, but he did not seem to be gearing up for a confrontation with America. Khomeini, the provisional government, and even Beheshti had maintained ties with the United States. They had negotiated the release of US diplomats when a Marxist-Leninist group had briefly seized the American embassy earlier in the year. But leftist groups were now brandishing the anti-imperialist banner higher and higher, demanding that Khomeini break ties with the American government and cancel contracts with American companies. Toward the end of October, the shah arrived in the United States for medical treatment. Few outside the shah’s close circle knew of his illness and, in Iran, many imagined this visit was the prelude to another CIA coup. The left jumped on the occasion, mobilizing on university campuses that had just reopened for the start of the academic year, and launched the slogan “Death to America,” Marg bar Amreeka."