Exclusive; Masih Ali-Najad: As long as the Islamic Republic is in power, Americans will not have security on their own soil

The examination of Iran's malicious activities and U.S. policy regarding it is the title of a session in one of the foreign policy committees of the U.S. House of Representatives, which has started a few hours ago and is currently underway. Since the beginning of protests following the killing of Mahsa Amini in Iran, this is one of the first sessions held in the U.S. House of Representatives concerning Iran. Norman Roule, Masih Ali-Najad, Suzanne Maloney, and Behnam Taleblu are discussing the threats posed by the Islamic Republic and the U.S. response during this session. Masih Ali-Najad, host of the VOA program 'Tablet,' before the session began, responded to VOA's question about the importance of this session by saying: 'A lot of efforts have been made to ensure that the case of Mahsa's murder and the murders of those who have simply protested against the Islamic Republic over the years are not buried under nuclear negotiations or negotiations for the release of American hostages. Because when [the U.S. government] pays so much money to someone who is a terrorist, who kills people, naturally, such sessions can at least place us Iranians in a position to pressure Congress representatives to push the Biden administration.' Ali-Najad also stated that she aims to highlight the main dangers and threats posed by the Islamic Republic during this session. She said: 'These (U.S. Congress representatives) know that the Islamic Republic is a murderer, a child killer, it commits aggression, but what I think we Iranians should do is tie our fate to the fate of the American people.' The host of the Tablet program, while pointing out that the story of massacres and killings in Iran has been repeated many times for Americans, added that she must draw their attention to the fact that she is not only talking about the Iranian people; she must show that 'as long as the Islamic Republic is in power, not only those who travel to Iran are at risk, but Americans will never have security on their own soil.' She exemplified: 'If you had walked the streets of New York years ago and said we want to fight the Taliban, fight bin Laden, Americans might have shrugged and said it doesn't concern us. But that same bin Laden killed over 3,000 innocent Americans.' Ali-Najad emphasized that she is trying to 'show that the Islamic Republic is like the Taliban and ISIS. If we do not fight it and destroy it, it will kill innocent American citizens on American soil.'