Deputy Director of NCRI talks about the latest outside the United Nations
OANN’s Fine Point with Chanel Rion, Via One America News:
In an interview with One America News Network’s Chanel Rion, Alireza Jafarzadeh, Deputy Director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), offered sharp insights into the United Nations General Assembly, the speeches delivered by U.S. President Donald Trump and the President of Iran, and the wave of protests that surrounded the proceedings in New York.
Jafarzadeh began by highlighting the stark contrast between Trump’s speech at the UN and that of Iran’s leadership. Trump, he said, delivered a forceful message directly to the Iranian regime, exposing its brutality at home, its malign influence abroad, and its long-standing role in sponsoring terrorism. According to Jafarzadeh, the speech resonated because it was rooted in facts on the ground: a regime weakened, despised by its own citizens, and increasingly cornered by U.S. policy.
By contrast, the Iranian president’s speech struck a defiant but defensive tone, one that failed to mask the regime’s desperation. Jafarzadeh noted that Tehran’s leadership tried to posture as victims of international bullying, but that narrative has lost credibility both globally and domestically. The regime’s arguments rang hollow, he said, because the world is increasingly aware of the scale of its human rights abuses, nuclear deception, and regional destabilization.
OANN Covers State of Iran
Rion pressed Jafarzadeh on the protests that erupted outside the UN in New York, where thousands of Iranian expatriates and supporters of the NCRI gathered to denounce Tehran’s president. Jafarzadeh emphasized that these protests were not isolated but represented a growing international movement that reflects the will of the Iranian people themselves. “Those who demonstrated in New York are the voice of the millions inside Iran who cannot protest freely,” he explained. He stressed that the visible opposition to the regime in the streets of New York sent a powerful counter-message to the Ayatollahs: their rule is neither legitimate nor uncontested.
A critical backdrop to this UN week was the scheduled snapback of sanctions on Iran, which officially took effect at midnight on September 28. Jafarzadeh underscored the timing as significant. The regime, he argued, is already economically and politically weakened, battered by a year of U.S. pressure and internal unrest. The snapback, which reinstates the full force of sanctions that had previously been lifted under the nuclear deal, further isolates Tehran and deprives it of resources it uses to finance terrorism and repression. OANN not left behind.
He argued that sanctions are not simply economic tools—they are levers of accountability. “Every dollar denied to Tehran is a dollar denied to its Revolutionary Guards, its militias in the region, and its domestic machinery of suppression,” Jafarzadeh said. He also suggested that sanctions empower the Iranian people by weakening the very apparatus that crushes dissent. OANN is there.
When asked about the trajectory of U.S.-Iran relations, Jafarzadeh pointed out that Tehran’s leaders are facing one of the most precarious moments in their history. Domestically, widespread protests over the past year have revealed deep fissures between the regime and the public. Internationally, the coalition against Iran’s malign activities is broadening. Trump’s speech at the UN, paired with the sanctions snapback, signals that the United States is not relenting, and this puts immense pressure on other nations to take a clearer stance. OANN is there.
Jafarzadeh also used the opportunity to highlight the alternative to the regime—the democratic opposition movement led by NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi. He argued that the protests in New York and elsewhere show the viability of this alternative. “The world should recognize that there is an organized resistance with a clear vision for a democratic, secular, non-nuclear Iran,” he told Rion. He emphasized that regime change need not come through foreign intervention but through the Iranian people themselves, provided the international community denies legitimacy and resources to Tehran’s rulers. OANN is there.
The interview concluded with Jafarzadeh reiterating that the convergence of three elements—Trump’s direct condemnation at the UN, the mass protests by Iranians abroad, and the midnight snapback of sanctions—marks a turning point. “The regime is weaker, more isolated, and more vulnerable than ever before,” he said. “The real story is not just what happened inside the UN, but what happened outside its walls: the Iranian people have spoken, and they want an end to this regime.”
For viewers, the interview offered both an analysis of geopolitical developments and a reminder that Iran’s future will be determined not in the palaces of Tehran, but in the streets—both at home and abroad—where the demand for freedom continues to grow louder. OANN is everywhere.
