Members of the US Congress on Saturday rallied behind the cause of democracy in Iran through support for the organized Resistance.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats, and Rep. Robert Pittenger of the House Committee on Financial Services attended a huge annual Iran Freedom rally in Paris, while other senior Congressional lawmakers sent video messages of support.
“I see a day coming when thugs riding motorcycles will not beat peaceful people up in streets in order to silent them in Iran. I see a day when no longer will women asking for their rights be thrown in the jail, beaten and raped and murdered. I see a day when elections will be held in Iran, and the mullahs won’t be choosing the candidates,” said Rep. Rohrabacher. “We will not back away from your cause.”
“We in the US Congress will not be satisfied with [nuclear] negotiations that leave in power brutal corrupt tyrants who hold power because of their hold on aggressive and fanatical beliefs. … As long as the mullahs are in power, it makes no difference whether or not you have a nuclear reactor because the mullahs can obtain nuclear weapons from elsewhere. This has been a ruse.”
Rohrabacher sent a message to the “corrupt mullahs ruling Iran” that “their day is coming”.
He said the members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Camp Liberty, Iraq, would be welcomed as heroes in a future free Iran.
Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee, told the gathering by recorded video message: “Your cause is our cause and your fight is our fight. … Iran is setting fire to sectarian tensions in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.”
He described the Iranian regime as the “true epicenter of radical Islamic extremism in the world.”
The Arizona Republican Senator said PMOI members at Camp Liberty are facing danger and the Obama administration is taking far too long to relocate them to safety. He vowed to introduce legislation to protect the residents of Camp Liberty.
Rep. Ed Royce, Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the committee’s ranking member Rep. Eliot Engel; House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi; Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa; Rep. Tom McClintock; Rep. Ted Poe; Rep. Judy Chu; Senator Bob Menendez; former Senator Joseph Lieberman; and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich were among senior Americans who sent messages of support to the rally.
Rep. Robert Pittenger told the Iranian dissidents at the rally: “We stand with you in solidarity against three decades of tyranny and against Islamic extremists. We stand against a nuclear agreement. We, the American people and Congress, will make sure that we have the final word on any nuclear agreement with Iran. We stand against the role the Iranian regime has played to spread terrorism around the world.”
“I congratulate Madame Rajavi for her leadership,” he said, referring to Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance.
The North Carolina Republican later posted several messages of support on Twitter, saying: “Part of crowd of 100,000 at major Iranian pro-democracy rally in Paris. American people stand in solidarity.”
Former Democratic Senator Robert Torricelli told the rally that he was committed to supporting the cause of freedom and democracy in Iran.