Q: What is the opposition's view of the United States and policy towards Israel? Do you recognise Israel's right to exist?
A: We need to have good relationships with every country around the world, including the United States and the Europeans. We do not have a problem with Israel. The problem of Israel could be solved by Palestinians and Israel in cooperation and with help from states in the region and the world community. We live in the 21st century and nowadays the world is connected and globalised. We should be a part of the world. We cannot close our eyes to the United States and Europe. They are strong political and economic powerhouses. If Iran is to prosper, we need to have good relationships - both political and economical - with everyone, including Russia.
As for Israel, it is the Iranian government which doesn't recognise its right to exist, but the Iranian people might think differently. Israel's internal problems are its own affairs, not ours. We shouldn't get involved. It shouldn't concern us. My view is that Israel has the right to exist. We should recognise it.
Q: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Israel should be wiped out. What is your opinion?
A: When the president of a country like Ahmadinejad says that he wants to kill all the people in Israel, this is very bad. Israel is not a person - it is a country with many people living there. Ahmadinejad is crazy. He is not talking and behaving like the president of a country. He has already destroyed international relationships with many countries and made them enemies of Iran. This has cost the Iranian people so much. His ideas are dangerous. That's why we have so many problems. We want to be friendly with every country.
Q: Do you expect a collapse of the government any time soon?
A: The government has already collapsed. There's going to be big changes very soon. Believe me, it will happen soon. I can promise you that I will meet you for the next interview in Teheran very soon. However, I am afraid that the transition won't be peaceful. You see what has happened during the religious ceremony called Ashura a few days ago. They killed so many people, 11 to be exact, not eight as was reported by the western media.
We want to keep our country as the Islamic Republic of Iran, but religion and politics must be separated. We want to change the structure of the government. The good clerics should help the people and the government, while the bad ones should be ousted from government. If you look back at history, several hundreds years ago, the church controlled everything in Europe. We are experiencing the same situation. Some of the top Ayatollahs have a lot of power.
Q: What will it take to remove the people in power?
A: We are working on it. The western media could help us if they could talk directly to the Iranian people, to tell them the truth. This would help. The Iranian media don't belong to the people. They are controlled by the government which is using them to spread lies.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/30425/iranian-insider-predicts-regime-change
