"Welcome Mister Khomeini." The grandson of Iran's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is warmly greeted as he arrives for an appearance at a conservative Washington think-tank.
Facing journalists and researchers in dark suits, Hossein Khomeini, dressed in a traditional white jacket and black turban, took easily to the question-and-answer routine.
"Do you think that Iran today holds an atomic weapon?" fired an Iranian-American journalist in Farsi.
Khomeini's piercing eyes darkened as his eyebrow furrowed.
"I have no specific information. But it is such a troublemaker regime that I won't be surprised. And if they don't have it now, they will have it in the future, I have no doubt about it," he said, running his finger along his beard, which is not yet as thick as his grandfather's.
He spoke softly, but still set the tone for 90 minutes of relentless criticism of the Islamic regime in his country.
Hossein Khomeini, a well-educated Shiite Muslim steeped in Western philosophy, had been asked by the ayatollah to keep quiet with his ideas for a true democracy in Iran.
But after his grandfather and his uncle Ahmad died, Hossein received threats and lived in isolation in the holy city of Qom, until he decided to flee across the border with Iraq.
"Under the shah, at least, religious practice was free. Today, after the revolution, Iran is one of the worst dictatorships," he said, running his fingers along his prayer beads.
Khomeini welcomed the US-led invasion of Iraq, which he said had made it a "free country," and called on US President George W. Bush to intervene in Iran and install a "true democracy."
"Iran is intervening now in Iraqi territory, and maybe it will force the United States to intervene in Iran too," said Khomeini, who has lived in Iraq for several months.
"Mr. Bush should act like Churchill when he gathered around him the British population to fight against Hitler," he said, before singing the praises of Western democracy and its "indispensable" freedoms of thought and of religion.
Another question, this time about terrorist groups backed by Iran, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories.
"So many questions, I hope it won't last until tomorrow morning," he said with barely perceptible smile.
But he doesn't dodge the question.
"No Muslim should be allowed to have such activities," he said. "Unfortunately, Iran is a long supporter of terrorism. This regime is one of the most active supporters of terrorism."
The moderator moved to close the gathering.
"I never thought I'd introduce a Khomeini here, in Washington DC," he said.
Before leaving, Khomeini wished a "happy new year" to his surprised host.
"The Jewish New Year," explained the translator.
In Tehran, a government spokesman on Monday said Khomeini was free to say whatever he wished.
"All Iranian citizens, inside or outside Iran, can express themselves freely if they have something to say about the government, which is what he (Khomeini) has done," government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh said.
Churches urge 'resistance' to Israeli settlements