Ali Javanmardi on Trump, Iran’s Opposition and Voice of America

The senior advisor overseeing Persian, Kurdish,

and Afghanistan services at Voice of America is with us, Mr.

Javanmardi. Moments ago,

President Trump announced that the time for changing Iran’s leadership has arrived.

What does that mean?

The countdown

for the system of velayat- e faqih has effectively begun,

and during President Trump’s term we will witness

the end of the system of velayat- e faqih.

This is a very important point. The U.S. State Department

had also already announced, hours before that, that all options are on the table,

and contrary to how many media outlets want to distort

President Trump’s successive messages to the people of Iran,

America is resolute in its support for the people of Iran. In the message that

President Trump released a few hours ago,

he said we are seeking new leadership in Iran. Again, the focus is on the

inside of Iran

and that American assistance is on the way,

and the people will undoubtedly receive these messages.

You could say that we are in historic days and We are at a fateful moment for Iran.

Mr. Javanmardi,

we are asked why Voice of America does not give enough coverage to the

activities of opposition groups against the Islamic Republic. Why?

Allow me to say this to our dear compatriots in Iran, that Voice of America

within the framework of a policy

of maximum support for the people inside Iran, and that the president of the

United States stands with the people of Iran, its doors, its platforms are open

to all opponents of the Islamic Republic. Pay attention to this. From Mr. Reza

Pahlavi to Ms. Masih Alinejad, to Ms. Shirin Ebadi, Mr. Abdollah Mohtadi,

and there are many more names. All of them can come and speak, debate, take part

in debates about themselves and their policies, the policies

of the groups they speak for.

The doors of Voice of America are open,

but what matters is Voice of America

will not turn into a platform for creating leaders. We are not allowed to do that.

That is U.S. policy.

It is about supporting the people inside Iran,

not about manufacturing a leader from outside the country, which

is actually an example

rejected within the

current leadership team of the United States.

The Islamic Republic has always tried to put two options in front of the people,

from the moment it entered Iran.

First, in a two- option referendum

they put two choices before the people. In the various elections,

to escape from crises,

they have always put two bad and worse options in front of the people.

This one is a reformist, this one is a principlist.

So people, out of fear of the principlist,

should vote for the reformist, out of fear of this one vote for that one,

out of fear of that one seek refuge in the other one.

And they have tried to always steer the opposition abroad and, by infiltrating them,

not allow them

to be able to enter a framework of national solidarity, to have a single voice or

a shared voice. But from September 2019,

in fact, in the first term of President Trump, the U.S. State Department put

forward a plan

It was laid out in a meeting where I myself had been invited as an

independent expert. From that time on,

based on President Trump’s policy in that very first term when it was laid out,

support for the people inside Iran officially began and has continued up to today.

And that they come and

put two options in front of the people, the Islamic Republic,

or this Islamic Republic which is rejected,

this system of velayat- e faqih that the people of Iran do not want,

and explicitly putting another option in front of that,

this is not something Voice of America does.

And we should pay attention to this point, all our dear compatriots,

that we are providing transparency in the face of the policy that the U.S.

State Department and the White House have.

And let me also say that in these sensitive circumstances,

when the president of the United States is standing fully alongside the people

of Iran and we

think that the important surprises are on the way,

we should try to Let’s strengthen a tolerant approach. Let’s have all groups try,

instead of eliminating one another, instead of us trying to manufacture leaders,

all of us together, in the form of a

cohesive group,

within a framework of national solidarity,

for Iran’s future,

let them enter this body so that from

the womb of this national solidarity an alternative can be created for after the

Islamic Republic. An alternative that can provide security

in Iran after the rule of the ayatollahs.

It is very important that President Trump’s message be taken seriously,

because very soon it will in fact be too late and opportunities will be lost.

Thank you, Ali Javanmardi,

senior adviser overseeing the Persian,

Kurdish, and Afghanistan services at Voice of America. Thank you.