Fox and Friends First Interviews NCRI Deputy Director after bombing of Iran’s Nuclear Sites
In a June 23, 2025 interview on Fox & Friends First, Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the U.S. office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), delivered a pointed analysis of the aftermath following the recent U.S.-led strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Speaking just days after precision airstrikes disabled key enrichment sites in Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow, Jafarzadeh offered clarity on what these developments mean—not just for Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but for the future of the regime itself.
He began by laying out the strategic impact of the strikes. The targeted bombing campaign disrupted Tehran’s uranium enrichment infrastructure, halting its most advanced weapons-grade progress and destroying facilities that had been at the heart of Iran’s clandestine push for a nuclear arsenal. While Iranian officials publicly downplayed the damage, Jafarzadeh suggested that the regime was rattled and scrambling behind the scenes. In fact, he noted, Tehran’s claim that it had preemptively “relocated” highly enriched uranium from the sites just before the strikes was likely a cover story—meant to conceal both the true extent of the damage and the regime’s ongoing deceit.
But Jafarzadeh was clear: this moment was not about the bombs—it was about what happens next.
He emphasized that the real solution to Iran’s threat does not lie in military intervention or further negotiations, but in regime change from within, led by the Iranian people. The NCRI, he explained, has long advocated for what it calls the “third option”: not appeasement, not war, but a democratic uprising fueled by the will of Iranians themselves. The recent ceasefire, following the strikes, may offer just that opportunity. With the regime destabilized and reeling, the streets of Iran are again stirring. Underground resistance networks have grown increasingly organized. Public frustration, already simmering from economic collapse and violent repression, is now igniting once more.
Jafarzadeh positioned the NCRI as the only viable, organized alternative to the ruling regime. He highlighted its track record in exposing nuclear sites, its international credibility, and its vision for a secular, democratic, non-nuclear republic. With Maryam Rajavi as the movement’s president-elect, the NCRI offers a 10-point plan that enshrines freedom of expression, gender equality, ethnic autonomy, and peaceful relations with the world. Importantly, this plan does not depend on Western boots on the ground or foreign aid. Jafarzadeh stressed that Iranians are capable of carrying this out themselves—what they need from the West is political clarity and moral support, not another round of failed diplomacy.
He warned that any rush by Western nations to re-engage Tehran diplomatically, out of fear of instability, would be a grave mistake. The regime’s pattern has always been to lie, stall, and recover. Jafarzadeh argued that the only path to true regional peace is to allow Iran’s people to decide their future. The regime is weakest when the international community draws a red line and stands behind the people—not the Ayatollahs.
Throughout the interview, he painted a picture of a regime in deep crisis—paralyzed by fear, fractured internally, and increasingly losing its grip on the population. The airstrikes may have signaled the end of Iran’s nuclear deceit, but according to Jafarzadeh, the bigger story is that they accelerated the internal unraveling already underway.
He concluded by asserting that the Iranian people are not waiting for rescue. They are ready to act. What they need is a signal that the world is no longer fooled by the regime’s games—and that freedom for Iran is not only possible, but inevitable.
Jafarzadeh’s appearance served as a reminder that while missiles may halt centrifuges, it is people—not warplanes—who ultimately bring down dictatorships. The window is open. The question now is whether the world will stand with those ready to walk through it.
