Elnaaz Norouzi reacts to Mojtaba Khamenei succeeding the throne: ‘Iranians want to choose their own leader’

Amid the growing unrest IranianGerman actor Elnaaz Norouzi speaks exclusively to midday about the global turmoil her stance on assassination and the deep emotional impact of the conflict Iranrsquos Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was reportedly assassinated on February 28 in a joint strike by the United States and Israel dramatically escalating tensions across the West Asia In response Iran launched retaliatory attacks on US bases in the region intensifying the crisisQ You recently mentioned how it is unsafe for you to go back has opposing the leader equivalent to losing the freedom of speech in IranA The freedom of speech never really existed in Iran and that is why we have so many political prisoners in Iran as well There are thousands of innocent people who have been imprisoned tortured raped because they have spoken against the government At this point it has surpassed the point of women and men but yes if we talk about specifically about women women have almost no rights in Iran starting from the morality police going after them constantly starting with the fact that as a woman youre not allowed in stadiums As a woman in court your statement is half as worth of what a man says As a woman youre not allowed to travel without your husbands permission As a woman you cannot ask for a divorce easilyQ Do you think USIsrael strikes to eliminate Khamenei were fairA If you ask me as an Iranian who has who was born in Iran who has lived in Iran who has lived under his real leadership who has family whos living under his leadership who has friends who are living under his leadership I will tell you that a dictator has been taken out a terrorist that has taken many many peoples lives has been taken out a person who has chanted and has made millions of Iranians chant death to America for 47 years has been taken out a person whos been building nuclear bombs in hiding To attack the American people and America and the Israelian people in Israel for years and years has been taken out this is a big win for the whole world its just that the world doesnt understand we understand it because weve lived with it and we know it but unfortunately the people just look at it from one lens and that is oh he was a religious leader but being a religious leader doesnt make you right when you do wrong rightQ Amid the conflict between Iran being an Islamicstate or a Democracy what is your takeA I receive a lot of death threats and many people disagree with me but that brings us back to freedom of speech and the idea of live and let live Thatrsquos all the Iranian people are asking for We want to live the way we choose and we are okay letting others live as they wish The problem is that a narrow mindset is forcing everyone to follow one way of life This is not against religion I have many Muslim friends whom I love and respect Iran is home to Muslims Christians Baharsquois Zoroastrians and more Everyone simply wants equal respect and the freedom to decide for themselvesQ Mojtaba Khamenei is now the new leader Do you think women will feel free under new leadershipA Mojtaba becoming the new leader He is the son of Ali Khamenei he is another person that was not elected by the Iranian people again the safety is still at the mark yes because he has the same views He supports the same barbaric thoughts that his father had and besides any of that Iranians are saying we would like to choose our leader ourselves we dont want supreme leaders we dont want somebody who we have not chosen thats the only thing why since when in a democratic world in 2026 should anybody else decide who rules over 90 million people the people should be deciding that for themselves and the people have decided they want the crown prince Reza Pahlavi backQ IranIsrael conflict has been a long war and the country has lost enough where do you think is the end to thisA The end of the wars in the West Aisa will come with the end of the Islamic Republic of Iran This regime has created unrest across the region by funding proxies like Hamas Hezbollah and the Houthis with billions taken from our oil and tax money Iranians donrsquot benefit from our own resources When people protested high gas prices in 2019 it was because that wealth was being diverted to Hamas So once you remove the Islamic Republic of Iran this regime the Ayatollahs once you remove the clerics there will be peace all over the West Asia because all the funding is going to be gone and all of those terrorist groups will crumble right because theyll not have any resource