Will Pompeo be the first US secretary of state to appear live on Iranian TV?
Following the US secretary of state offering Iran’s state TV to interview him, various analysts and officials reacted to the proposal with an outspoken prime minister urging state TV to go ahead and challenge Pompeo live on air.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s offer for an interview with Iran’s state TV has been met with positive reaction of a number of Iranian officials, who see this as an opportunity to challenge Pompeo.
While limiting Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s movements in New York, Pompeo told The Washington Post he would accept any offer to go on Iranian television and address Iranians to say “we care deeply about them — that we’re supportive of the Iranian people, that we understand that the revolutionary theocracy is not acting in a way that is in their best interest.”
In reaction, Iran’s senior moderate and outspoken parliament member Ali Motahari welcomed Pompeo’s offer, saying on July 16 that it could be “useful.”
Motahari then urged Iran's state TV, which is managed by hard-liners and not the government, to accept what Pompeo has proposed. “In my opinion, this is a good opportunity, but the interview shouldn't be one-sided in which Pompeo [only] speaks. The interviewer must bring up issues skillfully in a way that would [prove] US [lack] of logic," said Motahari in an interview with a local media.
