El-Sayed pressed on Iran at University of Michigan town hall

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed faced questions about Iran at a University of Michigan town hall after attendee Iman Dashti asked whether he stood unequivocally against the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). El-Sayed said he supported democratic movements and opposed U.S. involvement in regime change, but the supplied accounts do not show him directly answering whether he condemned the regime or the IRGC. Dashti said his family had suffered persecution in Iran and asked El-Sayed about earlier remarks concerning the death of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Dashti referred to leaked audio in which El-Sayed reportedly said he did not want to comment because many people in Dearborn were grieving. Dashti said that response had left a gap in the community and asked whether El-Sayed regretted it. Dashti also described alleged abuses against relatives. He said his cousin had been hunted by the IRGC over her hijab and that his uncle had been sentenced to death and lashed. Those claims were presented as Dashti’s account and were not independently verified in the supplied reporting.