JULIETTE GOODRICH:
00:01:54
A stern message, very emotional message to those. What do these cases signal about where Iran is headed, though? Do actions like this signal strength and control or insecurity and fear of losing public support? That's a very good question. Fear. Which government-- you tell me. A normal government never scared of an athlete simply saying no to tyranny. A normal government never, never get scared of a woman showing her hair. A normal government never fear a teenager simply dancing and posting a video on Instagram. A normal government never have fear of unarmed people taking to the streets. They are scared of their own people. And let's be very clear, when President Trump actually said that the Iranian regime told him that they're going to stop hanging more than 800 innocent protesters, we all knew that this is a big lie. So this regime is weakened now. They are wounded, and that's why they're first taking revenge to their own people. Second, they want to send a signal to President Trump and the rest of the world that this desperate regime is willing to do anything to stay in power. That's why I'm calling on President Trump. I'm calling on global athletes right now because this is the right moment. If the world keeps quiet, they will hang more protesters. you know why? Because right now, my team is working, and they are telling me that more than a hundred athletes are in prison, and they are waiting to be executed. I myself, three years ago, I launched a campaign called United for Navid when Navid Afkari was executed by the same regime. President Trump was the only one actually named Navid Afkari. Now we need his voice again, and now we need the voice of athletes in America again to stand with the people of Iran because, otherwise, they will turn the mass arrests to mass executions. Let me ask you this. What risk do members of Iran's women's national soccer team face if they openly protest or refuse to comply with expectations of the state? The Iranian regime using sport as a tool to whitewash their crimes. That's in the playbook of all dictators. They know how to use sports to send a signal to the rest of the world and saying that this is a normal country. It's not because they're using the soccer players wearing hijab to normalize Islamism, Islamic barbaric laws. That's why the soccer players in Australia, they actually asked for asylum. But they put pressure on their family. They detained their family members. They threatened them, saying that we arrest you. They threaten them by rape, execution. They made them to go back to Iran, and now they put their headscarf again on their head. You can compare those two pictures, one pictures of soccer players in Australia, biggest smile on their face, freedom. Their hair was shown. And the pictures in Iran, forced hijab, bringing them on TV, state television, to praise the regime. You need to hear the story of the soccer player Shiva Amini. She said it very, very beautifully and painfully, the guilt. They make the soccer players feel guilty about their own family members. This is what the regime is doing now to athletes, and that's why we are calling the international community to help us. I couldn't sleep last night because I knew that they're going to hang the athletes. I knew that they're going to hang the protesters. And with empty hands, we cannot do anything. And I want to say something to the Democrats here as well. Thanks to Senator Fetterman, the only Democrat in America. He condemned the execution, and he said he will stand with the people of Iran. We need America, whether they're Republican or Democrat, to stand with the people of Iran and condemn the execution and be the voice of political prisoners because they are living in internet shutdown, total darkness. We don't know how many of them are going to be executed. America, history is watching you. The global athletes, history is watching you. And Saleh was only 19 years old. The rest of the athletes are waiting to be executed. Help the people of Iran to stop executions. Masih Alinejad, appreciate it. We'll continue this conversation. Thank you.
