Abdul Questioned on Iran, the IRGC and Opposition to War

My cousin was hunted in the streets of Iran by the IRGC because her hijab wasn't on right.

My uncle was sentenced to die, received fifty lashings by Ali Khamenei's government, and the terror that we've experienced is insurmountable.

And you can imagine our surprise as Persians, our sadness when we heard you, Abdul, a leaked audiotape of you saying that you didn't want to comment on Supreme Leader Khamenei's death and that people in Dearborn were sad when he died.

And I just have a simple question, Abdul.

That silence was a-- had a gaping hole in our community, and I wanna ask if you regret that silence.

I wanna ask if you renounce the people that held vigils, that supported this terrorist for all the s-stuff that he's done.

I wanted to ask if you stand unequivocally against the IRGC, against the Islamic Republic of Iran that has killed fifty thousand protesters, Abdul.

I haven't heard anything from you about the protesters, Abdul.

Please. I appreciate your question, and thank you.

What I will tell you is this. For too long and too often, when we think about our role in the world, we have turned ourselves into the world's policemen.

And I think what we all want, what we all need, is more democracy, more freedom in the world, but also an understanding of what we actually can and should do with respect to that.

And here's my, my, my, my point. One can disagree with the governance of a foreign country.

One can stand in solidarity with freedom and democracy movements.

But my worry is one-- when one decides that we are going to go in and take out the leadership of a foreign government, because here's what happens.

A lot of times, that frustration gets used to justify corporate interests that have a real stake in the natural resources in a particular country.

Do you know what I mean? So when it comes down to it, I will always stand for and with democratic movements, always.

But I also don't believe that we were in the right to go to war to topple the government of Iran.

It was not our responsibility to do it. It is the responsibility of the people of Iran to decide what their leadership should look like.