Following US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent remarks he would "welcome the chance to speak directly to the Iranian people," it appears Tehran has decided to afford the State Department official the opportunity to do just that.
Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei announced on Sunday that Tehran had accepted Pompeo's offer to "tell the truth to the Iranian people," according to a research team at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
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Tehran, however, conditioned the interview on it being conducted by Marzieh Hashemi, a prominent American anchorwoman on Iranian state television who converted to Islam.
Born Melanie Franklin, Hashemi gained international attention when she was arrested by the FBI during a visit to the US in January, where she was held as a material witness. She was later released.
Hashemi, 59, has lived in Tehran for the past 10 years. Due to her passion for defending the Shiite Republic, she was promoted to anchorwoman at Press TV, Iran's English-language broadcaster responsible for disseminating regime propaganda around the world.
Hashem has called Iran a "center of resistance" and has spoken out against Iranian citizens that "do not appreciate the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic." She has further said he is willing to "sacrifice her soul" for the Iranian regime because it represents true Islam.
In response to Pompeo's remarks, an Iranian government spokesperson said, "Iran does not run away from listening to talk, despite the conduct and treatment of the Americans of Iranian journalists in the United States [which shows] a lack of respect for the media and dialogue between the [two] peoples.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif held a series of interviews with American media outlets while in New York to attend a conference of the United Nations earlier this month.
