sovereignty of the ballot box. it may not succeed immediately sovereignty of the ballot box. but let me assure you, this will not die. because we, will not let this die. a week later, the supreme leader of the islamic republic decided to stand in front of this movement, sanctioning the theft of the ballot box. all in the name of islam. this was a blatant -- disrespect

and in the end he will not stand. rest assured, the movement of 22nd -- invested with the blood of my countrymen, with energy and support from across the globe -- . rights in iran. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much. all of questions for you. we will start with the right. >> cnn. i have two questions -- can you talk of anything you have heard of what is going on outside of tehran? we have not heard a lot about the situation. obviously, media is not able to

get there. also, he spoke very briefly about what the international community can do. specifically, do you think that president obama has struck the right town? is there anything else should or could be saying, or anything else the u.s. should or could be doing? thank you. >> thank you very much. but i can tell you first and foremost is that the extent of violence, unfortunately, is far more widespread than it has been reported by the media, perhaps because of a concentration of media has been mostly focused on major cities, but having received many reports from provinces and smaller towns, there has also bee what could be interesting to all of you is that even just today driving here to the national press club, i received

calls from various parts of the country. i had reports from a member of the revolutional guards, passing through an alley where a kid was writing a slogan, telling him to hurry, do your job and move on. i had a report of police forces in tehran, sort of wink and eye to the kids, saying get away from her. we have orders to hit you. if we don't hit you, they have hit us. it reports where some clerics who were leaders of prayers there would sort of dress in civilian clothes and gathering in some of the civilians protests. this is getting amazingly by the minute a sort of dissention and people abandonning the sinking titanic in the regime

is. amazing reports, and i can go on and on with this, but what is most important is that we are already seeing that our messages and our appeals to the security forces not to hit their own brethren and join with them is getting more and more ground. it is unfortunate that that siege has failed to show and demonstrate, but many elements with the security forces and revolutionary guards are showing their discontent. there was a specific report i received today, and i cannot name names for obvious reasons, but one of the higher echelon members of the revolutionary guards who was specifically assigned to make sure that he was in charge of questioning -- chell chinning in kind of >> quell chinning any kind of unrest, that after what happened last week, he said i can no longer morally or

consciously stick to a system and ideals of what i thought this regime stood for after what is happening to the people. this is what i hear. these are the kind of reports i receive. i ask about what the u.s. and specifically the administration. i was encouraged by the latest positioning and words of president obama specifically. as i mentioned earlier in my speech, it is distinction between what is considered or could be interpreted as interference in the sovereign affairs of a state, as opposed to standing for the violation of the principles of human rights and democracy. these are precisely the iranians demand of world leaders, particularly president obama. his entire message of hope,

change and affirmative action was a big inspiration to many. and as such, the world community has been for the most part in an unprecedented fashion show more and more solidarity. that is important, that is heartening. that gives life in the streets of tehran, that people finally after 28 years and god knows how many times i have said that and it has fallen on deaf ears, but finally is there for the world to see. such solidarity can only be helpful. i can say as a final comment on this topic, i received at least in the past five days personally over 200 calls, at least, of various people inside iran, irrespective of which movement they represent, saying to the world do not quiet down. keep talking, keep supporting us. keep being there for us. we are dying here. we need to know we are not

alone. i i can't stress that enough. [inaudible question] >> well, i think that the key element would be -- look, the mask from this regime is coming off. is it going to be a genocide or a major crackdown? is the world prepared to take the next step? we have to applauseably anticipate that. the question is what do world governments do this time? are we going to have tiananmen square revisited, or is this time going to be differently? the cost of not doing this could only lead to a more dire problem, not only for the iranian people who would be tremendously set back for freedom any time soon, but the dangers it represent beyond its

borders to the international community. >> i wonder how would you define what we are seeing right now? is it a revolution? what will be the aftermath? will it be a regime change or only a change in the regime? >> as i mentioned in my opening statement, the 14th of june and what happened shortly thereafter may have been a dispute over election results. since then, i think most iranians today, including the camp of mr. mousavi and others, are realizing now this is far beyond the question of an election results. it has become a commonwealth of not only the sanctity of the ballot box, but the fact that it is a matter of sovereignty and liberty, which until this regime, with such a supreme leader, in such a clear manner has drawn the line in the sand,

would make it now almost impossible for anyone to demand anything less than moving beyond the system. it is going in that direction. the momentum is there. there is no avenue or recourse left for that nation, for my compatriots, to find any resolution of the problem. and the latest decision made by the counsel of guardians is that even if they are willing to admit there was discrepancy, they claim it is not enough to warrant a recount. pretty much the line has been drawn in the sand. from now on the question is to offer every opportunity for anyone joining with the people today, to get off the sinking titanic the islamic regime is all about. we welcome and encourage that, but on the other hand, we cannot say we are with the people and at the same time sustain the regime.

that is not a ten eble position -- tenable. it is a revolutionary climate. however i don't like to use the word revolution because it has a negative connotation. the key point is i have seldom seen not violent movements of change succeed without international support. that is a very key element, and that is what i would like to stress here today. >> a daily turkish newspaper. my question, as a follow-up to the question of whether president obama had set the right town or not, i wonder if you believe that the regional countries have set the right town? as far as i know, iran's immediate neighbors, like turkey and iraq, have called mahmoud ahmadinejad to congratulate his

election victory. do you think that these kinds of messages go directly to mr. ahmadinejad is a stand against the people on the streets, or an alliance to the current iranian regime? how do you interpret it? thank you. >> well, i think it is hard to interpret it anything other than standing in complete opposite of with the iranian people stand today. why they do this? ask them. i don't think it is my place to justify or explain why it is that if the government decides to legitimize the regime. all i am telling you is that people in iran will not forget such a key moment, at the time they are risking everything they've got.

if we have a long-term vision, the will become more aof an issue to think about that the media. -- more of an issue to think about than in the immediate. >> i would like to ask you about the relations between president hugo chavez and president, in a shot. they have had the privilege -- president ahmadinejad. they have had a privileged relationship over the last two years. my second question is that if you think that iran should have nuclear energy, is in that effort to the world? -- isn't that a threat to the world? >> on the first question, the french have an expression, that people who resemble each other

possible with one another. i think the writing is on the wall. [applause] i don't think any to elaborate. i -- i don't think i need to elaborate. i have a lot of venezuelans, and i think they're concerned that this help the alliance is a detriment to because of democracy and freedom. my position, as always, the nuclear issue, is very clear. before we get into the energy issue, iran, before the revolution, was a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty, as a result of which we became 10% shareholders in a consortium that was going to furnish iran the nuclear rods to fuel nuclear reactors that were going to be started, and should have been completed, i believe, around

1983, if i am not mistaken. at the time, the world community was not concerned about iran's civilian nuclear program. as a matter of fact, most countries today are demanding tougher sanctions on iran through the u.n., the same among them the united states, france and other countries. what has changed? it's the nature of the system. it is the trust that you can have to a system that makes the whole difference. lack of transparency, lack of responsibility or accountability is the real threat. not a nation's sovereign right to a technology. it has never been that. of course the regime, as capable as they seem to be in twisting every word and facts to make it like a national cry, do not tell the people of iran that the regime is responsible for us having lost that right, and only them. but as far as the military

usage of that, again, it would be in total violation of our own signature to that treaty. so in principle i would end up by saying there's no question in my view that a democrat critic iran and a nation committed to peace need not pursue weapons of mass zrugs. i cannot envision in my own mind, if i were there today, that as an iranian i would feel safe ever if everybody around us had their own set of nuclear weapons pointing at each other. that is not a safer environment under any circumstances. i don't buy that argument. but don't forget, last and not least, that most of the regime's rhetoric in the last few years, and perhaps even longer before that, had always been mostly aimed for not domestic consumption, but for external congressional sudges.

particularly toward the arabs in the district. that has deflected the problems in iran itself, which until now have left many combused as to what is the -- confused as to what is the real sentiment of the people. and now you will hear more and more because of the people there, what i knew all along, what the iranian people really think, when you have people struggling to make ends meet, when you have a factory worker that has not been paid a salary over at least a half a year, and his entire salary is maybe the equivalent of $2,000 or $3,000 a year, and the regime gives twice or 10 times that amount to some hezbollah member or hamas member in palestinian, that is not in the interests of

the people. i hear people celebrating them making yellow cake. how about making bread for the people who are starving? if you trust the people, i have no doubt that first and foremost we have a sense of respect for ourselves. our signatures must mean something. we have signed a treaty. if we violate that treaty, how can we possibly think if we want to become a member of the world trade organization, if we sign this and don't do it, how can you think well do anything else. that is my position in principle on the subject. thank you. >> i would like to refer to a former question concerning the future of iran. when you look at people who have an important role like mr. mousavi, mr. rafsanjani, mr. kasai me, they are all part of

the regime. but this movement go far beyond -- does this movement go far beyond? how do you envision the future of iran? will it be an overthrow of hypocrisy -- will it be an overthrow of the theocracy? but will do you envision for yourself and the family? -- what role do you envision yourself and the family? >> as a partially explain earlier, the situation has grown just -- has grown beyond just the result of an election and a candidate. most iranians are quite aware of the fact that having always been limited to prescreened candidates of the regime's choice as to who they get to vote for, to begin with, they were stuck in a position of having to choose between a lesser of two evils, or multiple evils, whenever it is. it presents an opportunity for

such prescreened candidates to join with the masses, and it would be difficult for us not to anticipate for caller: calleat t we would be faced with an impasse. you cannot at the same time hold allegiance to the regime and claim that you are with the people. a decision will have to be made pretty soon. the legitimacy of such candidates is the direct result of whether or not they actually take the side of the streets and peel away from a regime, or forever lose their legitimacy, the very same way that the supreme leader has completely lost it now. we will see how this develops. i always said to all of you, and i repeated yet again today, that

my sole objective is to help my compatriots preach freedom -- help my compatriots reach freedom. let's have democracy in iran, let's have the freedom to vote and choose freely. i would like to be in my country one day and come behind a podium and talk to my people and every other candidate, for whatever reason, i would like to talk to their people, and let the people decide. right now, all i am try to do is to help liberate our country sooner rather than later. we don't have hundreds and thousands of other nedas of our country die, when they could avoid having to continue dying and being repressed. that is my objective my objective is to see a day that the iranians can go to the polls and elected the government of their choice.

we demand, i demand, that parliamentary system of democracy, secular in the sense that there is a clear separation between religion and government, cuts to tissue -- a constitution based on the international declaration of human rights, and having talked to a whole host of political groups in iran, from left to the right, marty stuart republicans come marxists, landed since -- leninists, socialists, we differ in the ultimate form the government could take. but we all agree that the only solution for your right to come out of the soul is to adopt a democratic -- for iran to come out of this whole is to elect a democratic parliamentary system. it is about freedom and democracy and human rights. i stand ready to serve them in

that capacity, and i've always said that the day my fellow compatriots will finally go to the polls to decide the fate of arad through a referendum, -- the fate o iran through a referendum, to me, that day the mission will be accomplished. right now, this is a premature subject to debate about what we will end up tomorrow in iran. the point is what we're trying to do today to liberate our country, and that is what i'm doing right now. [applause] >> thank you very much. you have given a couple of examples, but what would you -- when would you be able to say, what would be the sign or the person who would make this sea

change, the change of heart within the establishment that would signal to you that there is something going on within the religious establishment toward more democratic? >> i am at maintaining, among other things, close contact with highly placed elements within the system, on the civilian side as well as the military intelligence all of it -- military intelligence level of it. we are tirelessly examining every possible scenario of their own exit strategy. we're not reinventing the wheel here. let me explain the scenario where security forces of any state or system that has been repressive, and we saw this in the case of the soviet union, the case of czechoslovakia, we saw that in many other examples, in the case of serbia -- seldom do we see a military or paramilitary or security forces taking any initiative. usually, it has been refusal to carry out orders of repression

by joining with the people. i remember the images of mr. yeltsin standing on that tank in front of the duma. this was not a coincidence. it was part of an evolution of thinking and peeling away from the collapsing soviet system. we have seen, more often than not, security forces siding with the people and remaining neutral. you saw that even in the case of the 1979 revolution. although they had orders not to fire on people. therefore, what is going to be the pivotal moment is, in my view, three factors -- the resilience and sustenance of the movement by the people, the fact that elements that want to peel away know that their backs are not to the wall, that there is another boat they can jump to,

so the movements dynamics is key, the behavior, taking a position, and much more tacit support than just verbal encouragement by the international community in a direct engagement with the people and support for that, is another factor. and ultimately, how much the morale of the remaining core group desperately trying to hang on to this system and preserve it allows them to fully detached from them, dissension within the ranks itself. the caylee evaluation of that is what ultimately makes a difference. -- the daily evaluation of that is ultimately what makes a difference. it has to start -- the good news is that it has already started. the extent of which, i cannot really tell you right now. it depends on many factors. but this is pretty much the dynamics of change.

more often than not, we have seen that. this is not myanmar in isolation that can keep aung san suu kyi and people like cuher completely isolated. anecdotally, i have had reports, even as late as today, that we are seeing signs of solidarity. we already have stories up on stories of members of the security forces who, after their shift, go home and dressed in civilian clothes and rejoin people on the street. five hours ago they were there with their clubs. this is happening under our eyes. we have to see how the dynamics carry out. but the sustenance of the movement is imperatively a vital and pivotal. >> you said you were in close contact with military intelligence. >> not just military

intelligence, but various apparatus within the system. i cannot define in detail. >> you are saying that you're talking to members of military intelligence and they are currently making plans to either step down or leave the country? >> two groups -- those with the regime that are anticipating every scenario of survivability of the system with their plan -- we can guess what that will become all but massive repression to complete silence the masses, but on the other hand, there are those contemplating the candidacy of when and how owill it be their moment to join? this is a complicated matter, and we cannot put them on the spot and expose them. some of it is coordination that we're trying to have with them. the other part is in what way they will have to implement this on their own rights. at this point, it is very under

the radar, for obvious reasons. but i anticipate that at some point, there will be much clearer positions announced by those who are more visible within this very system, because today, the moment of truth has arrived in iran. iranians need to know who stands with them and who stand against them. as much as the people on the streets demand the elements -- the elements stuck in this regime know they can no longer be around the bush. sustenance of this movement will be the element of constant pressure on the system, favoring the likelihood of more peeling away from the regime rather than the reserves. -- rather than the reverse. that is why it is so critical for iranians to know that to this entire process, the andand

content -- unconditional support is an added element that can help the sustenance of this movement and further deteriorate and fragment the regime beyond what it already has started to demonstrate in terms of internal fragmentation. >> i'm from neighboring azerbaijan. do you have real information about the death toll, how many people were killed on the streets of teheran, tehran -- of iran, tehran, because the official figures to not seem to reflect the real level. and how the events going to develop? >> it is very, very difficult to have an actual headcount, because some of the victims' bodies are dragged to places that even their own families cannot recover them.