Latest / Gunther Fehlinger Podcast / Freedom for Iran: Mitra on Protest, Exile, and Europe’s Responsibility

Transcript

Freedom for Iran: Mitra on Protest, Exile, and Europe’s Responsibility · Gunther Fehlinger Podcast

• 0:00
  We'll start. This is the Gunter Failing a
• 0:03
  podcast. And today we are discussing
• 0:05
  against about Iran, about freedom for Iran and of course
• 0:09
  how we can build a strong case in the European public for
• 0:13
  freedom for Iran. And that's of course extremely
• 0:16
  important. And you know, we don't want to
• 0:18
  have a situation where we've, we have it with Iraq in the past
• 0:24
  where we had divided European public opinion.
• 0:27
  And therefore, I'm very honoured that I have a very special
• 0:31
  guest. I want to thank you as well that
• 0:33
  you are with us today at this podcast because Mitra from
• 0:37
  Italy, from Iran, of course, and you were in Munich at the
• 0:40
  security conference and we met there and you made us very
• 0:44
  famous with your Instagram Reel. That was very good.
• 0:47
  My British friend together with you.
• 0:50
  And that was a very nice occasion and I'm very happy for
• 0:52
  that. And you're very welcome.
• 0:54
  Maybe you can introduce yourself a little bit.
• 0:56
  And then we start with the podcast and we discuss about
• 1:01
  Iran, freedom for Iran, what we can do.
• 1:04
  Meet her, the floor is yours. Hi, Gunther, First of all, thank
• 1:08
  you so much for having me in this podcast and for your time.
• 1:13
  We really appreciate what you're doing for your and your effort.
• 1:17
  And OK, as you mentioned, my name is Mitra.
• 1:21
  I'm an Iranian activist and content creator.
• 1:25
  Before this, I was going really low profile.
• 1:29
  I was doing something for my country, but low profile.
• 1:32
  But now giving the situation, given the situation, I'm more
• 1:38
  active and actually I'm trying to make whole world understand
• 1:45
  what's happening in Iran, especially in Italy, the place
• 1:50
  that I'm living. I have been living here for five
• 1:52
  years and I, I never go back to my country.
• 1:55
  I didn't see my family because of some political issues and so
• 1:58
  on, because it's dangerous. And I gave my time and
• 2:04
  everything to my country just to achieve the freedom.
• 2:08
  Very good that you even went to Munich to the big demonstration
• 2:11
  where Reza Pahlevi was speaking. Yes.
• 2:16
  And there we met in the the at the main square of Munich.
• 2:21
  And you made this real when we and you were surprised actually
• 2:24
  that they are British and Austrian people who are
• 2:27
  obviously we are not Iranian, but we feel very strongly for
• 2:30
  the freedom of Iran. Yeah, yeah, Actually when I saw
• 2:34
  you first, I was thinking that you're Iranian because they were
• 2:36
  too many Iranian people there. They were walking.
• 2:39
  And when I I figured that you're not Iranian, I was like really
• 2:43
  surprised really, because for us it means so much.
• 2:49
  It means so much when the non Iranian people are supporting
• 2:52
  us. Tell me, how is the public
• 2:55
  opinion in Italy right now? Is it for regime change and for
• 2:58
  freedom? Or do they love the ayatollahs
• 3:01
  and the mullahs? Actually it's a real difficult
• 3:06
  question because in Italy, what I see they are more focused on
• 3:13
  returning the Shah very good and they, they don't want it.
• 3:19
  So they are not talking about the other thing.
• 3:21
  There are too many activists, Italian activists that I really
• 3:24
  appreciate. They are talking about those.
• 3:27
  They are our voice and but about normal people, what I saw,
• 3:33
  because I'm always in the manuscript, I try to talk with
• 3:37
  people, I try to make them understand, but they are not
• 3:42
  really focused on what's happening.
• 3:44
  And the people are dying and mullahs and ayatollahs and
• 3:48
  Republic, and they are focused on returning of the Shah and
• 3:54
  they don't want it. Is this is this connected with
• 3:56
  the only Italian history? Because after World War 2 I
• 3:59
  think there was a referendum about monarchy and Republic and
• 4:03
  it went for Republic. Maybe that's connected with the
• 4:06
  only Italian history. Maybe.
• 4:10
  Maybe. Maybe.
• 4:11
  Or maybe because of the war from the American side, it can be
• 4:18
  because they are also focused on this that OK, Trump must not
• 4:22
  help Iran and Shah must not return.
• 4:27
  And this is the, this is what I saw when I talk with them.
• 4:31
  And 90%, they are focused on this.
• 4:35
  And you personally, you want the return of Reza Baklavi as the
• 4:38
  king of Iran? Sure, sure.
• 4:41
  I want the return of Shah in Iran to go back to the time, the
• 4:47
  good time that we had. It's also, I think, the best
• 4:51
  option for Iran because he's the only really, really unifying
• 4:54
  leader of Iran to unite the people and to bring change.
• 4:59
  Yes, surely, because in this moment we have no one else that
• 5:03
  we can trust. We have no one else that can pay
• 5:07
  attention to Iran as much as Reza Shah is doing.
• 5:12
  He has spent the 47 years of his life just for Iran.
• 5:18
  Who is better than him? Absolutely.
• 5:21
  Let me ask you as well about the Italian politics.
• 5:23
  Mrs. Maloney is very close to Mr. Trump, and she has in many
• 5:27
  ways a very positive influence on him.
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  And now the American fleet is very close to Iran.
• 5:34
  And in the next days, everybody expects military action.
• 5:38
  Will Georgia Maloney support American military action for
• 5:42
  liberation of Iran? Actually, this is a really
• 5:48
  political question that is out of my information, but as a
• 5:53
  normal person I don't see that. No, you don't.
• 5:58
  Think because because what I saw from Georgia Maloney that also
• 6:03
  she spoke about Iran, the first spoke that she had, she was
• 6:06
  talking about negotiation and talking with the Islamic
• 6:11
  Republic and fixing problem in friendly way.
• 6:14
  You know, regime change is not her concern, I think.
• 6:21
  I think regime change is the only way at the moment because
• 6:24
  the ayatollahs will not retire voluntarily.
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  So without military action, there is no change in Iran, I'm
• 6:31
  afraid. Sure, sure.
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  Regime change is something that is the only solution that we
• 6:38
  have, only thing that Iranian people out of Iran and inside of
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  Iran they wanted. And without exactly what you
• 6:45
  said, without a military action, we can't win in front of the
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  mullahs and ayatollahs because they have a army.
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  And as you have seen what they did with the people, we are
• 6:56
  barehanded people that we can't do anything and they are not the
• 6:59
  people that they give up and they live country.
• 7:02
  What's your information about the crimes now in the beginning
• 7:06
  of 2026? There's different reports about
• 7:10
  30,000. Some people speak about 90,000
• 7:12
  deaf. What is your information and do
• 7:15
  you have any personally somebody who you lost in the revolution
• 7:20
  now in Iran in 2026? Different informations, some
• 7:29
  informations about the governments that they are not
• 7:32
  for sure saying how many people they have killed, but because of
• 7:37
  this is really, really difficult that we know how many people.
• 7:39
  But as you have said, we heard us about 90,000 people.
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  That is not something that's out of thing.
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  Now they can do it. What we have seen the videos
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  that we achieved as some people they send us personally, yes
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  90,000 we can believe that they killed people brutally.
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  There are too many people also now they are in prison, they are
• 8:06
  killing, torturing and the important thing that we have
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  seen in the video is that they are not handing over the women
• 8:15
  bodies, just they are men bodies and they are keeping the women
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  and as far as we know they are raping them, they are torturing
• 8:25
  them and after that they take out their intestinal and so on
• 8:31
  and they are burning the body. Terrible crimes, really terrible
• 8:36
  crimes. It's just a horrible regime.
• 8:39
  I really hope it will be ended now as soon as possible.
• 8:42
  You have any expectations and hopes that America will act very
• 8:46
  soon or you think there is a danger to have any deal on the
• 8:49
  nuclear weapons and then American troops will will leave
• 8:53
  again? Hope they don't do any deal.
• 8:57
  No, I don't want to think about this part, but this is a war,
• 9:02
  you know, war in Middle East with Iran, with the Islamic
• 9:07
  Republican regime. So it's something that is not
• 9:10
  really simple that we are waiting in one day that Trump
• 9:14
  say I attack and tomorrow he's going to attack.
• 9:18
  So what we are doing, we are just waiting.
• 9:22
  You're just waiting and we hope that they do some action because
• 9:27
  otherwise you can't do anything just.
• 9:32
  Be good, tell me as well, you're coordinating a campaign for many
• 9:36
  internationals to send you videos to continue as a digital
• 9:40
  creator to create public support in in Europe for regime change.
• 9:45
  What's your plan on that one? Sorry, I'm afraid that it didn't
• 9:49
  catch you. You, you asked me for example,
• 9:51
  to send some videos for why I'm supporting Iran regime change.
• 9:57
  And I'm doing that currently. And I think this is an
• 10:00
  opportunity for many European activists who want to support
• 10:04
  regime change. They can send you videos and
• 10:07
  then you can make a compilation and build some stronger case
• 10:13
  from Sweden, from Austria, from Germany, from Poland.
• 10:16
  Because many people, many activists are now supporting
• 10:20
  regime change. And I think there's an
• 10:22
  opportunity to contact you on Instagram to send you videos and
• 10:25
  to to present the case for regime change from all countries
• 10:30
  of Europe. Yeah, yeah, sure.
• 10:34
  That's that's a really perfect idea because now the main goal
• 10:38
  of mine is achieving non uranium people because there is as you
• 10:42
  know, there is a real huge gap between non Iranians and
• 10:46
  Iranians to know what's happening in Iran.
• 10:48
  And I try to make a bridge between this gap to make them
• 10:51
  understand that is not a political issue.
• 10:54
  It's not just about political. Now is we can say just about
• 10:57
  human rights. So it's not something that the
• 11:01
  people said, OK, it's not my business.
• 11:03
  That's about politics. No, it's not about politics,
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  it's about human rights. The crime is happening in Iran
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  is not staying just beyond the border.
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  If we don't stay against of this regime, they are going further
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  and further and they are gonna maybe do this crime over the
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  border. No, it's gonna be dangerous for
• 11:27
  whole world. And I try to make people
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  understand these things as a matter of whole world.
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  It's not just matter of Iran. Absolutely.
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  Because of the criminal regime. Yeah, and this kind of videos
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  and when I'm talking with an American people is really
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  helpful because as an example, you as Austrian, you can make
• 11:49
  your people convinced better than me.
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  That's what's happening. If I can talk with you and you
• 11:56
  can talk after that with your people, you can make them
• 11:59
  convinced really better. Absolutely.
• 12:02
  So it's your call that all the people who are watching this
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  shall send some videos to you why they support Iran and why
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  they are actually endorsing regime change.
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  And I will do this after this video.
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  And it's a very great initiative.
• 12:19
  Yeah, yeah. Thank you.
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  Thank you. Mitra, are you also working with
• 12:23
  the Ukrainians in Italy together?
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  Because we had a central demonstration of the Ukrainians
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  now on Tuesday, on the day of the 21st, 24th of February, when
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  the war started there. And there was a huge delegation
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  of the Iranian diaspora here who are calling for freedom for
• 12:42
  Iran, freedom for Ukraine. And that's the kind of alliance
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  which is forming here in Austria.
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  Is this as well happening in Italy already?
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  Actually, I don't have any connection personally with
• 12:56
  Ukrainian people unfortunately. But if there is opportunity, I
• 13:00
  am very, I am going to be very happy.
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  Just I have one Ukrainian friend that and if I can support them,
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  I will do. And also I see they are
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  supporting us. And so they are coming sometimes
• 13:13
  to our protest and they are with us.
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  They are our voice. And this is the only thing that
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  I know, information that I have about them, about their
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  organization and the other things.
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  Unfortunately I'm not informed. Because Reza Baklavi and
• 13:28
  Selenski have met in Munich and they agreed to cooperate.
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  And now it's also that Iranian terror regime is sending a lot
• 13:37
  of Shahid Thrones towards Russia to attack the Ukrainians.
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  And so it's very logical to form an alliance as well in the
• 13:44
  streets of Europe between the Iranians and of course the
• 13:48
  Ukrainians and all Europeans who love freedom to stand united and
• 13:53
  to call for regime change in Iran.
• 13:57
  Yeah, sure. I agree that it can be really
• 14:01
  helpful. And as we have seen in these
• 14:04
  years, all those Ukrainian, they were with us, they were coming,
• 14:09
  they were helping us. And when we are together, that
• 14:14
  we are going to be stronger for sure.
• 14:17
  How is the situation with the Palestinian supporters?
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  Because the last two years we had a lot of pro Palestinian
• 14:23
  supporters in the streets of Italy, even quite wild protests
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  I read in the media. But are there pro Palestinians
• 14:30
  as well supporting the freedom of Iran now or is this not
• 14:34
  happening? That is something that's not
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  going to happen because you know about the about the Palestine's
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  really, really political issue that you know, what's the
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  meaning of existence of Palestine and pro Palestinians
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  and so on. This is a creation that they did
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  by intention and for sure. And these kind of people never
• 15:02
  going to stay nearby Iranian people.
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  I'm not talking about Palestinian people.
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  I'm talking about pro Palestinians that you know, the
• 15:11
  differences because they are Palestinian people that they
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  will inform what's happening. And I met also one of them was
• 15:19
  in the street and he he was supporting Iran and what's
• 15:23
  happening. But about pro Palestinians, you
• 15:26
  know, it's another issue. It's about the propaganda and
• 15:30
  something else that's no also sometimes they are coming to our
• 15:34
  protest and they try to fight because they try to, because
• 15:40
  they see the Israeli flag, American flags, and they try to
• 15:44
  fight with us because of this and these things.
• 15:48
  And unfortunately, I know from their side.
• 15:53
  It's in Austria, the same. Yeah, the Palestinian pro
• 15:56
  Palestinian people are not supporting freedom for Iran,
• 16:00
  which is a big shame because normally human rights is
• 16:03
  universal and the Iranians have deserved freedom and support the
• 16:08
  same as the Palestinians. But unfortunately that's not the
• 16:11
  case. Because as I told you, it's
• 16:14
  about the propaganda. And actually these people also
• 16:19
  are not supporting Palestinians or Palestinians children, as
• 16:23
  they say. Because if you want to support
• 16:25
  something, I say also I'm really upset for Palestinian children,
• 16:29
  because also they are children that they are dying.
• 16:31
  No, but if you want to support something, if you want to
• 16:33
  protest about something, you have to be well informed, you
• 16:39
  have to know about the situation.
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  Otherwise, it's just a mess. No, you are staying in front of
• 16:45
  something that you must not, and you're protecting something
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  that, again, you must not. It's a big mistake and what the
• 16:54
  Palestinians are doing is a really huge mistake.
• 16:56
  They want to protect Palestine, but they are staying in front of
• 17:04
  wrong, wrong people, no. What's your vision for Iran in
• 17:09
  the future? Do you want Iran to be a pro
• 17:12
  western free country like it was in the past or do you want to be
• 17:17
  an ally of Russia or of China as it is at the moment?
• 17:22
  For sure I want free Iran, free Iran for us.
• 17:28
  Very good. That's a very, very positive.
• 17:31
  We have to work very closely together in the future and I'm
• 17:35
  optimistic that regime change will really be implemented in
• 17:39
  the coming weeks. If in the coming days, I hope
• 17:42
  so. And then there will be
• 17:44
  tremendous changes and the big improvement.
• 17:47
  Let me ask you one final question about Italy.
• 17:49
  Because in Austria, for example, our state president has received
• 17:53
  the delegation of the Iranian protesters in order to listen to
• 17:57
  them and to understand. And also they made a specific
• 18:00
  program for Iranian students who are now cut off all the the
• 18:05
  country. And they have a specific support
• 18:08
  program for Iranian students now in Austria.
• 18:11
  And how is the Italian state reacting?
• 18:13
  Have you been already received by the state president or by the
• 18:16
  Prime Minister? Could you address your issues to
• 18:19
  the authorities and to the support you specifically in this
• 18:23
  huge crisis? Sorry, did you hear the
• 18:33
  question? I lost the last.
• 18:35
  I lost the last Fords. No.
• 18:37
  I wanted to know if the Italian state President has received
• 18:40
  already a delegation of the Iranians or the Prime Minister
• 18:44
  or the institutions have supported you.
• 18:46
  Because in Austria the state president has received a
• 18:49
  delegation of the Iranians to listen to them.
• 18:52
  And also the Austrian Minister of Education has made a specific
• 18:55
  program to support the students of Iran who are now in this big
• 18:59
  human rights crisis and the results of all this huge
• 19:04
  disaster which ayatollahs have done against the people of Iran.
• 19:09
  So there was tremendous output of support also from the public
• 19:12
  institution. And how is it in Italy?
• 19:14
  And did the state president already receive a Iranian
• 19:18
  delegation or have they expelled some Iranian diplomats?
• 19:24
  Or what was the reaction of the Italian authorities?
• 19:28
  Actually, till now we didn't have any formal action and in
• 19:37
  the beginning we could see also the support for the embassies
• 19:42
  and the consulate of the Islam Republic in Italy.
• 19:47
  They were supporting about the action, No formal action, we
• 19:54
  didn't see anything. Universities and so on.
• 19:57
  They are working, they are talking about supporting Persian
• 20:02
  people and so on. But the action that I that I can
• 20:07
  talk about now. So it's really time for Italy to
• 20:11
  wake up and to support the freedom for Iran.
• 20:14
  Yeah, yeah, because we, we ask also to expel the people who are
• 20:19
  related to the governments, to the Islamic Republic or as an
• 20:26
  example, closing the consulate. We are asking all this.
• 20:29
  We're closing the consulate or embassies, but until now no
• 20:33
  action. That's very regret.
• 20:36
  I'm very sorry actually, because Italy should be supporting free
• 20:41
  Iran much clearer. What are your demands for the
• 20:44
  Italian government? What are your calls which you
• 20:47
  when you go and speak a demonstration, what do you want
• 20:49
  from Mrs. Maloney to do? We want that they act
• 20:54
  separating, change. They hear, they have to listen
• 20:59
  to the real voice of Iranian people that we want regime
• 21:02
  change, no negotiation, no friend like nothing.
• 21:08
  Just we want that they close the embassy and the Consulate of
• 21:14
  Islamic Republic and they expel the people who are related to
• 21:18
  the Islamic Republic. And also they have to take some
• 21:24
  action about the Mujahideen, that there are too many of
• 21:27
  mujahideens here. And they try to stay in the
• 21:34
  right side of the history side of Iranian people.
• 21:39
  Because again, I say it's not about politics, it's about human
• 21:44
  rights. So it's time for Mrs. Maloney to
• 21:48
  join the free world and the free Iranians and really implement
• 21:53
  the demands of the Iranian people for regime change and
• 21:57
  also for support of the demands of the Iranian community of
• 22:02
  Italy, and also to expel some of these bloody diplomats who are
• 22:06
  serving for this terror regime. Exactly.
• 22:12
  This is what we want from whole world, from whole governments,
• 22:16
  that they this time stay with Iranian people, listen to their
• 22:20
  voice and stay with Iranian people because this regime is
• 22:27
  the end. No, it's finished and just we
• 22:31
  are, we are losing people. We are losing people to fight
• 22:34
  bare handed the guests of this regime and how much they try to
• 22:38
  stay silent. The other governments try to
• 22:39
  stay silent. We lose more people and more
• 22:42
  people are going to die. And now it's time for the
• 22:46
  Europeans to stand with the Iranians for regime change.
• 22:51
  Exactly. Actually, because I as an
• 22:54
  Iranian, I say we are not going to stop this time.
• 22:58
  We are not going to go back. We are not going to stop because
• 23:00
  we lost 90,000 people, children, three years old, three months.
• 23:07
  Can you believe that? 12 years old, Too many people,
• 23:10
  they have lost their eyes. Too many people, they lost their
• 23:15
  fathers, mom, brother, sisters. And we are not going to go back.
• 23:24
  We are going to fight and the governors can choose.
• 23:30
  They're going to stay in political art and they ignore
• 23:34
  Iranian people voices or they stay in the right side of the
• 23:37
  story and by Iranian people. But they have to think about
• 23:44
  future, future. The history is going to judge
• 23:48
  them. So, Mrs. Maloney, please listen
• 23:53
  to meter and act accordingly and support the in the freedom of
• 24:00
  Iran and don't think about commercial interest with the
• 24:03
  terror regime but think about this bright future which will
• 24:07
  soon be a reality when the Americans have liberated Iran
• 24:11
  and it will be again part of the free world.
• 24:17
  Am I correct, Sam, saying that Mitra today is not?
• 24:19
  Mitra is a voice of all Iranian people who are in Iran, who are
• 24:24
  staying in Iran, who are fighting bare handed and they
• 24:28
  are not able to talk with the outside of Iran.
• 24:32
  They have no connection. So me and the other Iranians
• 24:36
  here, we are just voices of those Iranian people to make the
• 24:41
  whole world, world understand what's happening and help them.
• 24:45
  This is the only thing that we can do.
• 24:47
  But Mitra is a powerful voice for freedom for Iran in Italy.
• 24:51
  I'm very honoured that you came on this podcast.
• 24:53
  I wish you success. I wish the Iranians freedom and
• 24:57
  the revolution now to be successful and the Americans to
• 25:02
  really engage in regime change and implement regime change now.
• 25:06
  And also Italy and the whole European Union to support the
• 25:11
  freedom for the Iranians. This is important.
• 25:14
  And if you want to contact Mitra, she's on Instagram and
• 25:17
  she's coordinating this campaign of all Europeans who want to
• 25:21
  participate and to work to for regime change and endorse
• 25:24
  freedom to send videos. And this is a very good effort
• 25:28
  to a yes to free Iran. And Mita, thanks a lot for your
• 25:32
  leadership and also thanks a lot that you joined this podcast.
• 25:38
  Thank you so much. Thanks to you that you give your
• 25:41
  time and I see, I follow you and I see you're supporting Iran
• 25:46
  non-stop. That was not just the one day or
• 25:49
  one night We don't like that you're going outside.
• 25:52
  No, I see that you are supporting us and I really
• 25:55
  appreciate that. And thank you for having me in
• 25:58
  this podcast. That was a good opportunity for
• 26:00
  me to talk about Iran, Iranian people, as I do always.
• 26:08
  And let's call for freedom for Iran, Javicha, and all the best
• 26:12
  to you and to Italy, the European Union, and success with
• 26:16
  your campaign for freedom of Iran.
• 26:19
  Javicha and Iran. Javicha, thanks a lot.
• 26:24
  I will stop now here and.