When crowds in Tehran chant “Death to America!” they don’t mean it personally, according to President Hassan Rohani of Iran.

In an interview with the CBS news program “60 Minutes,” to be broadcast in the United States on Sunday, the Iranian president said that the chant was a reaction to American actions which had harmed Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran and six world powers signed an agreement in April for tight controls on the country's nuclear program in return for the relaxation of sanctions. The U.S. is a signatory to the agreement and President Barack Obama this month overcame opposition from American lawmakers to the deal.

Rohani, who is subordinate to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was interviewed in Tehran by CBS' Steve Kroft. In a segment released before the broadcast, Kroft asked him whether he could understand why Americans have difficulty with a country that chants “Death to America, death to Israel.”

The slogan is not against the American people, Rohani said. "Our people respect the American people. The Iranian people are not looking for war with any country. But at the same time, the policies of the United States have been against the national interests of Iranian people, it's understandable that people will demonstrate sensitivity to this issue."

He went on to explain what he said was the historical background to the slogan. "When the people rose up against the shah, the United States aggressively supported the shah until the last moments. In the eight-year war with Iraq, the Americans supported Saddam. People will not forget these things.

"We cannot forget the past, but at the same time, our gaze must be towards the future."

American opponents of the agreement often cite the regular anti-American chants as evidence of Iran's true intentions. They might take Rohani, who is regarded as a moderate reformer, at face value, but many are convinced that Khamenei remains bent on their country’s destruction.

