companies of america created c- span as a public service, there was no government mandate and no government money. >> next, john mccain talks about the use of force against the protesters in tehran. his remarks on the floor of the senate are about 5 minutes. >> there was a report from the associated press, entitled the iranian police use force to break up protests. they fired live bullets in the air to this place these people on monday, carrying out a threat to crush any protests over the election. witnesses say the helicopters were overhead as the protesters

gathered, the police put an end to the demonstration. iran says the 17 protesters have been killed, and the hardline president -- there have been severe restrictions on the reporters that made it impossible to verify any reports on the demonstrations. iran is telling reporters to stay in their offices and preventing them from reporting on the streets. and the story goes on, demonstrations followed by repression and murder in the streets.

and as these things seem to revolve, there was an event that was a defining moment, just yesterday, -- in the struggle of the people of iran, to peacefully disagree with their government, because of a fraudulent election, without being killed in the streets and beaten and imprisoned. this has to do with a woman named nayda. i aquo-- i quote from a story from june 22, 2009. she sinks to the ground and a few moments later she is dead. this shows the last moments of a young woman who was shot by

sharpshooters in the heart. she has become a symbol of the opposition overnight. there are shaky images as she collapses onto the pavement, two men fall down to her. her pupils fall to the side, blood streams out of her mouth. nadya, stay with me, cries one man. another man asks someone to take her in a car. the vootage appeared -- footage appeared on facebook and twitter, asturday, and -- saturday and was forwarded. they got around youtube trying

to block this. it became impossible for youtube to remove this. so, mr. president, we have seen the cases of other brutal oppression through history. the dying example of martyrdom. by saturday she was the fifth most commented person on twitter. it took one bullet to kill her, but it will take only one nadya to stop -- she died with open eyes. shame on us who live with closed eyes. they killed her, but her voice

was another. people changed their profile pictures to pictures of her, and others posted images of the color of the opposition movement. there has been a debate over how much the president and the congress and the american people should speak out, in support of these brave iranians. the average age in tehran is 33 years. this is for their quest for freedom and democracy that we have enjoyed for two centuries. today i and all of america paid tribute to a brave young woman,

who was trying to exorcise her fundamental human rights and was killed on the streets of tehran. all americans are with her and our thoughts and prayers are for her and her family and her countrymen. >> he will join us tomorrow on "washington journal" with bob chieffer. thursday, tom ridge is the guest. "washington journal" begins at 7:00 eastern every morning. this portion of today's briefing is about 30 minutes from the state department. -- 13 minutes from the state department. >> did the ayatollah set back

the talks with the regime, this seemed very hostile to the west. >> i think -- you know the policy about engagement, the policy about preventing iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. the focus will have to be on what is happening in iran. this is not about us or the bilateral relationship. this is about the people of iran and they have the rights to express themselves, and be respected. the political will being respected. the president made a very strong statement, standing very firmly behind those who want to have

their view respected and peaceably assemble, to have access to the media, and so right now, the focus is on this very dramatic situation. >> this situation is unfolding in a country that the obama administration has been attempting to engage. i wonder if these prospects seem to be improving, or slipping away? >> the situation is evolving, and at this time, like you we are following with great interest, what is happening. this is a rapidly of balding situation.

>> and very knowledgeable source says that the obama administration is in the process of recalculating the approach to the nuclear diplomacy issue, is this true? >> >> i will say is that, -- what i will say is that, the refusal of the iran to meet their obligations to the international community is of great concern. right now, we want to see this process worked out a in a way that the will of the people of iran is expected. >> you will of the engagement on hold? >> i am not saying this. the focus is on what is going

on. >> it sounds as if you have two tracks, nuclear engagement which is seperate from -- separate from the election. >> the people of iran -- the iranians have not responted to the invitation to join the talks at which we are willing ti sit do-- to sit down. >> can you see the situation with the election having an effect on how you deal with this? >> it is fair to say that this is a dramatic situation that is going on in iran. by all indications, the

authorities are focused on this dramatic situation. >> you see that they will not do any thing? >> i am not saying this. at the press -- at the present time the world is watching, and all the eyes are on the internal situation. >> [unintelligible] p65 plus one at the g-8? >> we said we would take it up if they responded. >> you said, you were watching with great interest. how os the secret - is the secretary watching this?

this is coming over on twitter in real time and the young woman who died, nada. is the secretary aware of this? is he making any comments about the role of women? >> as i have said before, he is playing an important role in briefing the secretary. this has been very difficult, as it is for all of you, to get confirmed information, about what is going on, because of the inability of the media, the representatives of these organizations to really cover the situation, this has been dangerous on the streets, the foreign diplomats have had difficulties as well. she is following this situation

with great concern. as i have said these are very distressing images that we have seen, the most distressing was the young woman covered in blood. >> had she spoken to the president? >> yes. >> one more on iran? i will run out of material. >> we will supply the material. >> do you think it is appropriate to have the people -- the iranians coming on july 4. is there thought of taking back the invitation? >> no. >> it is important to have a social dialog?

>> we have decided to engage with iran on a number of fronts and we tried many years of isolation and we are after a different path. >> the president keeps saying -- that it is important for the u.s. not to be seen trying to influence iran. but the government is blaming the united states and the british for meddling or making social networking available. by simply saying that they stand with the people. this morning, we heard from the press, essentially asking obama and the state department to say more about this.

if this -- is this going to be the pathway? >> what you can see, they are using this as a foil, the great satan, to justify policies and gain public support. we do not want to get into this necessarily, but what you saw over the weekend, was a very strong statement by the government. the fundamental principles that the country was founded on.

these are principles that we will be standing up for. this is where we see this violated. >> if they will accuse the united states of meddling, will there be a willingness to do more about this, on the part of the united states. >> we have done a lot and because of the reasons i have spoken about before, i am not necessarily thinking that we have to get into a kind of washington-tehran polemic. we have to coordinate. the secretary is doing this,

coordinating the approach with the allies and we have to do these things together. it is not productive for the united states, to be in the front. we have to do this together. >> so there is no elements engaging the nuclear issue, the direct bilateral relations. is there a single element in the policy that what has happened in the last 10 days, is making us rethink this. >> again, this is a rapidly developing situation, but we have come out very strongly, condemning the violence and calling for iran to open their society, to allow the protesters

to be able to express their view, to assemble peacefully, and these are all very strong statements. >> on a broad level, the approach to the nuclear issue, these things are undisturbed by the events of the last few days. >> we are not really focused on the bilateral relations so much. what we are focused on is what is happening inside iran. >> how focus is the u.s. government on the members of the theocracy. >> we are monitoring all of these situations very closely. we are monitoring of the people of iran are being treated by their own government, we are

monitoring the way that the situation is unfolding. >> you talked about the need to coordinate the approach with your allies. how has this been working with the joint statement from the european nations? >> the secretary has called some of the colleagues, and they will have more opportunities to talk about this with the multilateral readings coming up. as far as the joint statements, we were talking more about the common approach. >> is there a contract with the former crown prince? >> and now the remarks from the former shah, reza pahlavi. he talks about the islamic

revolution in the unrest in his country. from the national press corps, this is over one hour. >> good morning. thank you very much for coming. welcome to the national press club. i am a former foreign service officer, i am a free-lance writer and the boys -- the vice chairman of the newsmaker committee. we have a sound file of these newsmakers, available on the web site. others may purchase a copy from the broadcast information center. 262-7510.

turn off any blackberries or cell phones, and tomorrow, the speaker is the secretary-general of the organization of the islamic conference. his topic is "u.s.-muslim world relations and the contributions to that." there is material on the table outside related to this newspaper. the newspaper, as you know, is the former crown prince of iran, the son of the late shah of iran. reza welcome back to the press club. we are very you could be here. i sent welcome back, because mr. pawlenty has spoken at the nbc -- because reza pahlavi has spoken to the npc at least once

before. i want to thank for her role in arranging this speaker, his office and all those who i've met and hussein i cannot pronounce correctly. he would give us his view on the post-election relations in iran. he thinks it reflects a fundamental change in attitude of the iranian people to the islamic regime, and has ideas on what the west should do about it. after he speaks, he will take your questions. line up at dtw alternating marker fronts, go left and right. -- line up at the two alternating microphones, go left and right. we have this room until all o'clock 30. afterwards, -- until all o'clock 30. afterwards, if you will be available for interviews at the end of the hall. as you leave, please add your

name to the signing sheet outside. thank you very much. >> ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming. thank you for your time and attention to the cry for freedom and democracy on the streets of iran. i cannot -- i can tell you firsthand how much my compatriots are appreciative of your generous attention to their plight. the best i can do for you today is to recount what my fellow iranians tell me about their conditions, hopes, and fears. bear in mind that for the great majority of iranians born after the islamic revolution, the unfolding events are the most significant transformation --

transforming experience of their collective memory. the courage of the conviction gives hope for peace and democracy, in the most troubling region of the world. on the other hand, their defeat will encourage extremism from the shores of the lavon to to the energy juggler of the world. at the very least, it will threaten regional tranquillity and global economic recovery through fears of terrorism, a slowdown of globalization, and steeply higher energy prices. at worst, fanatical tyrants who know that that feature is against them may come at their present course on their terms, a nuclear holocaust.

which will it be? that is the question of the debt. -- that is the question of the day. my request to you is to not underestimate the role you play in the outcome. international media are already the information artery, connecting different parts of the freedom movement in iran. that is why the regime has ominously warned media that only officially report -- officially approve reports to be dispatched of the country. having restricted the return path of media, they are also jamming electronic transmissions and restricting internet traffic into the country. but it is the third leg of communication from people the people, from one resistance cell with another, from leaders to supporters inside, of which the regime is most fearful.

they cannot fight people who stand together. only an information blackout can isolate individuals so that they can be addressed separately. thus, -- so that they can be oppressed separately. thus, the outcome of the struggle will depend on your ability, the free media, to fight their blackout with the light of information. your second contribution is keeping your political leaders informed about the brutal violence of the regime's playclothes thugs against unarmed people. your government have insisted that they would not interfere in iran's internal affairs. i applaud that. any such attempt will give the timon's the excuse they need -- ctyrants the excuse they

need to paper over their own differences. but that is not all they do. they are taping -- painting every statement in defense of human rights as foreign interference, benefiting from the confusion between the two. it is vital, it is vital that theree world not fall for such cruel cynicism in the name of realpolitik. the universal declaration of human rights knows no national boundaries. its defense is not only a matter of ethics, but a mutual obligation of all governments who are its signatories. it is also in their interest. no one, no one will benefit from close in his or her eyes to

knives and cables cutting into the faces and now it's up the young and the old -- the faces and mouths of the young and old. pppppppppppppp or from a bullet >> or from the bullets piercing our beloved nada. [applause]

whose only sin was the quest for freedom. no one but tyrants and their thugs. do not let them to find what is sovereignty, what is interference in other's affairs. ladies and gentlemen, a movement was born on the 12th of june. it is not islamic or anti- islamic, it is not for capitalism or socialism, nor any other ideology or specific form of government. it cares little about the historical squabbles before its birth, but it is about the