00:00I have not been able to sleep for days because of Donald Trump's escalating language about
00:05how he intends to act as it pertains to the Iranian civilian population.
00:10Over the weekend, we know on Easter Sunday, he talked about bombing power plants and bridges
00:18and basically confessed in advance that his intention is to commit war crimes.
00:24And then waking up this morning to say that he will end civilization in Iran as we know it
00:31is nothing short of apocalyptic.
00:33It's been the worst time of my life.
00:35I mean, this has been a massive challenge.
00:38As the only Iranian-American Democrat in Congress, you know, and as somebody who has actually studied the region,
00:45I've lived in the Middle East, I studied international relations in both undergrad and graduate school,
00:51focused on Iranian studies, I speak the language.
00:54I know a lot about Iran and its history and the regime apparatus and how they operate.
00:59So I also am very aware of how detrimental the way Trump has gone about this war
01:06is ultimately going to be for the Iranian people.
01:09Because the way they're going about bombing civilian infrastructure,
01:13it's only the people who suffer in this.
01:15The regime, this is a gift to them.
01:18So it's been really hard for our family.
01:20And I will say, like, being so vocally anti-war, I mean, I have been the subject of significant harassment
01:27and threats over the last month or so.
01:30I don't feel safe at home.
01:33We've been doxxed, got really crazy threats.
01:37I think there's a lot of both, like, orchestrated online propaganda when you are staunchly anti-war and also some,
01:48you know, organic from real people.
01:50That's been, you know, something I never wanted to experience.
01:53So my parents are from two different cities.
01:57My dad grew up in Tehran, which is the capital, and my mom grew up in Esfahan, which is the
02:03second or third largest city.
02:04And it's a really beautiful, historic city.
02:07My, you know, they grew up there during, you know, much better times.
02:13It was during the late Shah's rule.
02:16And while it wasn't a full democracy, the country was very open, very pro-West, and a lot more rights,
02:22you know, were had by women, for example.
02:26And I don't, I mean, neither of my parents ever wanted to leave Iran.
02:30I don't think, if had the revolution not happened, I mean, I would not be sitting here today.
02:35And I think many Iranian-American families across the country have had very vigorous debates at the dinner table.
02:42And I think everyone's really on edge.
02:44I think at the beginning, a lot of people were very hopeful about change that this might bring.
02:49And I'll say I think about 30 percent of the diaspora still feels that way.
02:53But as the war has gone on and as people have come to see that Donald Trump doesn't have good
02:59intentions
02:59and doesn't have a plan as it pertains to a real future for Iranian people or any sort of transition
03:05to democracy,
03:06I think reality has set in that he was selling a fantasy.
03:10We need to amp up the pressure on this administration in any way possible.
03:15I think the more and more members of Congress call for the invocation of the 25th Amendment, the better.
03:20We've seen just overnight that number go from just a couple of us to over 50 members of Congress
03:26have said that the 25th Amendment must be invoked.
03:29Now, of course, that needs to come from the Cabinet.
03:32I have been repeating over and over again that I think Vice President J.D. Vance has an opportune moment
03:38right now
03:38as somebody who wants to run for the presidency in 2028 and who has long stood against endless wars.
03:46This is his moment to show that.
03:48I worry that Trump will follow through on his threats.
03:50And, I mean, we have to be honest with ourselves that we've never had a president of the United States
03:56use language like this.
03:58Even if it's just words on a true social post for the president of the free the president of this
04:04country
04:04and the leader of the free world to take to social media and say we will end a civilization
04:13of a country of 90 million people.
04:15That what are we still doing here if this is not the time that Americans rise up and say,
04:22no, this is not who we are, this is not what we want in our president,
04:27and that leaders, irregardless of their political party, do everything they can to stop this person.
04:33Like, this is this is math.
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