Guest we know in several ways. We know it anecdotally from every american journalist who has traveled to iran and talked to iranian people. We have empirical evidence. There are some polls that show this. If you look at the election, the last two elections particularly, in theave essentially controlled elections that iran has, voted for candidates who have said they wanted to be a member of the international community. So there is evidence, although we dont have really good polling evidence to support this fact. The people of iran are tired of this regime. More lawabiding, less corrupt and less incompetent regime at home, and they want a lawabiding they want to be a lawabiding citizen of the world globally. Host do they want the supreme go . Er to guest i dont have empirical proof, but there is increasing evidence. 14 dissidents inside iran, two of them were imprisoned, wrote a public letter and send their names, the the Supreme Leader has to go. Thate many discrete the Supreme Leader has to go. Host how unusual is Something Like that . Guest it is unusual. 14 people inside this regime of fertility have put their name regime of brutality, have said that this leader has absolutely corrupted and bankrupted the country and he has to go. Host in trying to help the world understand what the world is like inside iran, what role do you see for iranians living outside iran . Guest i think iranians can see a very important role. About 10 of iranians now live outside. In the u. S. , iran has a very successful diaspora. Forink this diaspora can do the transition of democracy in israel,t jews did for which has helped make the transition easy. Intellectual, financial, managerial, scientific capital, which is considerable for the jewish diaspora, for the indian diaspora, to make this transition for a democratic iran easier. Host will are some of the most important voices on the front . Guest if you look at the iranian diaspora in terms of success in the business world, there are many, many, many iranian diaspora members who are critical members. Theoogle for example, gentleman who has endowed our program at stanford university, he runs a company that is one of the 100 biggest in the world, a 110 billion asset company. There are many examples of very successful iranians want to help iran transition to a more democratic nation. Host at stanford university, it is the iranian democracy is the, professor milani director of iranian studies at stanford university, joining us for the next 25 minutes or so, taking your calls as we discussed tensions between the United States and iran. Usual, democrats, 2027488000, republicans,027488001, an independents 2027488002. Professor milani, it is your first time joining us. When did you come to the United States, and why . Guest i came to the United States twice, in 1964 to go to school, i went to school and got my graduate degree here and immediately went back to iran from 1975 to 1987. I lived and worked there and i was at the Tehran University faculty in law. In 1987i left and came to the United States and began to teach at a Small Liberal Arts College called notre dame university. Then i was called to start and Iranian Studies Program at stanford and run the iran. Emocracy project as we always say, this could only happen in america. Host before you left iran, you were a political prisoner . Guest i was, under the shah, i was fouryear. I was opposed to his regime. Jimmy carter came and pushed for human rights policy in iran. I am a prime example of how these policies actually work. I was imprisoned when human rights policies by carter were announced and you could see a daily change in our life in prison in iran. And within a few months, every political prisoner in iran was let go. So these things are not rhetorical. When the president of the United States defends human rights or when he does not, these are the consequences. Host or you tortured when you were in prison . Guest i came at the end when torture was happening, literally. I was confined for a month, an absolute form of torture. I saw people beaten up. The worst of torture had already ended by the time i came. Host i know that you wrote a shah, aut the biography. In the time when you were in prison, some of the current leaders of iran were also Political Prisoners at the time. Guest yes, virtually everybody khomeini, the whos who of the Iranian Regime were there. They were. Well. D to the shah as some of them were intransigent and some were much more tolerant and liberal in disposition when they were in prison. One woman was one man was imprisoned, and he was designated as the successor of ni. Tollah khomei but when he saw that there was torture and hypocrisy, he called it. Eini out for they put him under house arrest, and he took it all. Host was is the most important leader in iran that americans dont know about . Announcer you can find all of our washington journal segments on