At the September 24, 2025, rally of Iranian Americans outside the United Nations in New York City, Judge Ted Poe, former member of the U.S. Congress from Texas, praised the persistence of the Iranian Resistance and drew parallels between America’s fight for independence and Iran’s ongoing struggle for freedom.
Judge Poe reminded the crowd that the Resistance began by rejecting not only the mullahs but also the Shah’s dictatorship, stressing: “You went and gave your lives to get rid of a dictator because you wanted to be free. And now some are talking about replacing that dictator with one of his family members. That is not a good idea.”
Invoking the American Declaration of Independence, Judge Poe said, “Whenever any government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish that government. That sounds like something y’all would say.” He praised Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan as Iran’s own declaration of independence, contrasting it with the regime’s “plan to kill the people of Iran.”
Judge Poe also condemned the regime’s record of executions and impunity: “Not one Iranian official that I know of has ever been held accountable for the murder of the innocent.” He hailed the role of women in the Resistance, saying, “There is nothing more powerful than a woman who has made up her mind.”
“The Mullahs fear you. The IRGC fears you. But the people of Iran will not go quietly into the dark of the abyss. They will not yield to tyrants,” Judge Poe declared.
The full text of Judge Ted Poe’s speech follows:
#Breaking: ex-lawmaker Judge Ted Poe at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, outside @UN HQ, where thousands of supporters of @Maryam_Rajavi's Ten-point Plan for a democratic, secular republic in #Iran, held the 2nd day of their rally.#IStandWithMaryamRajavi#2025FreeIranNYRally pic.twitter.com/2TLvzsRrLs
— Ali Safavi (@amsafavi) September 24, 2025
Greetings. Thank you.
It’s an honor to be here with you. I was hoping that the president that y’all were talking about just now, Pezeshkian, when he’s finished over there, would come over here and answer a few questions from y’all.
But we have some wonderful people here. People that I have known for a long, long time. Over 20 years ago, some Iranian Texans showed up in my office and started telling me about the oppression in your country. I was shocked to learn about that, because then, like now, most of the world is ignoring the oppression of the people of Iran. But we’re not ignoring it.
A lot of you have been in this fight for a long time. Some of your hair has gotten like mine. But it’s worth it for what you have been involved in. So I say to the people of Iran, to my fellow Americans, to my fellow Texans, the lovers of freedom throughout the world, wherever you are. To the children of the slain families—some of those children are here. To the parents of the murdered sons of Liberty and the daughters of Democracy—some of those parents are here. We will never sleep. We will never slumber until the Iranian people are free.
250 years ago—now, that’s a long time for Americans; it’s not a long time in the history of Persia and Iran—but 250 years ago, a young 30-year-old and his neighbors got together and protested another tyrant. Thomas Jefferson was his name. And so he and his friends, mainly young people, wrote a letter. They called it a Declaration of Independence—a Ten-Point Plan, if you will—to the King of England, King George III, and demanded an end to the presence of the English in America.
"It is important that the people control the government of Iran, not the Mullahs, not the dictators… but the people control it."
Former U.S. Congressman and Judge, Ted Poe (@JudgeTedPoe), told Simay Azadi in an interview on the sidelines of the #2025FreeIranNYRally. pic.twitter.com/TJsQ8yXbul— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) September 27, 2025
And what he wrote in the Declaration of Independence is the justification for why the people here separated themselves and became a free people to a tyrant somewhere across the sea. It has a lot in it. I’m not going to read it all. But here’s what he said: We hold these truths to be self-evident—self-proving, if you will—that all men are created equal. They are endowed by their creator with certain rights. That among those are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And governments are instituted among the people to secure those rights. Here’s the good part. Whenever any government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish that government. That sounds like something y’all would say.
Our rights, they don’t come from government, or the dictator, or the tyrant, or the Mullahs, or the IRGC; our rights come from the Almighty. Your rights come from the Almighty. All peoples everywhere, of all religions, of all faiths, have the right that you here are fighting for. Our rights don’t come from dictators, kings, or tyrants. And governments are to protect those rights. And the declaration that I read to you states the people have the right and a duty to replace that government. That means the Iranian people, the people of Old Persia who want their country back, should take it back. It’s your country. You should be in charge. It’s down in our soul to be free. That’s the way we’re made: to be free.
The Resistance that is taking place now has been around a long time. It didn’t start with the Mullahs and the Iranian president now and the IRGC. It started with removing another dictator, the Shah. And let me say this: you went and gave your lives to get rid of a dictator because you wanted to be free. And now some are talking about replacing that dictator with one of his family members. That is not a good idea.
.@JudgeTedPoe: Today’s Resistance began long before the mullahs—it began by overthrowing the Shah. Iranians gave their lives to remove a dictator. Replacing him with his son is not freedom, it’s a bad idea. #OurChoiceMaryamRajavi
https://t.co/9IwRgW6fe6— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 24, 2025
And this band of sisters and brothers demanding their God-given rights is not just a few people. It numbers in the hundreds of thousands. In places other than in Iran, places like the United States. I’ve met a lot of Iranian Americans, a lot of Iranian Texans. Let me just say this: I think Texans are a lot like Iranians. They’re hardheaded like you are. And that’s a good thing. There were folks in Belgium last week. People that have protested the dictatorship from France to Albania, to Camp Ashraf. I’ve been to Camp Ashraf. I’ve been and I’ve seen your relatives who are there. I’ve seen the hundreds and thousands of photographs—just a few are back here—of people, your people, who just wanted to be free and they got killed for it. They got murdered for it. They got murdered for it because of the dictator that is in Tehran today.
It’s astounding to me the public hangings of young people, of women, young women, who all they did was say they wanted to be free. And so they have suffered those consequences. They want just a little bit of freedom. And I should mention, not one Iranian official that I know of has ever been held accountable for the murder of the innocent in Iran. Not one. And over there, they’ve got officials from Iran. Rather than talking to them, they ought to talk to them about the war crimes they have committed and put them on trial for what they have done to you, to the people of Iran.
Your Resistance to tyranny won’t quit. And that is a good thing. There are some things worth living for. And freedom—I can think of nothing more important than your freedom, our freedom—to live for. Just like those people 250 years ago decided they would give all they had to be free. The Resistance has a plan. It’s the same plan written over 20 years ago. It’s a Ten-Point Plan. It’s a declaration of independence. It’s a plan where the people of Iran can determine their own destiny.
Judge Ted Poe (Member of US Congress-2005 to 2019) speaking
2025 Free Iran NY Rally Day 2 //Condemning Iranian President's Presence At The United Nations Meeting#2025FreeIranNYRally #Iran pic.twitter.com/dNx3GKqzaC— Firouz Mahvi (@FirouzMahvi) September 24, 2025
The Mullahs have a plan too: kill the people of Iran. That’s their plan. They murder their own people. That is their plan. They want to be at war with their own people. They want to start wars all over the world: in little countries, in Africa, South America, the Middle East. They want to do mischief everywhere. They want nuclear weapons. That is their plan.
Your plan is different. The Ten-Point Plan is [to] let the Iranian people control their own destiny, their own country. The answer cannot be the Mullahs’ plan. The answer cannot be the IRGC putting them in charge. Are you kidding me? The IRGC is a terrorist organization. Why would [an organization] that is a terrorist organization be in charge of the people? It’s like putting the fox in the henhouse to put the IRGC in charge. The people of Iran should have their will done. And free people should support the concept of a regime change.
Let me say this. We have several people. I should say this: All of y’all are young. But some of you are younger than others. And especially, we have [present here] young women involved in this movement. That is a good thing. Because, like Mrs. Rajavi, women are equal. To all you young women that are listening, my grandmother used to say to me when I was a little kid, she would say to me, “Let me tell you something. There is nothing more powerful [than a woman who has made up her mind].” And you women have made up your mind. Oh, and woe be to the Mullahs. They do not know what they’re dealing with, because of the power of persuasion, because of who you are. So many young women have given their lives just for what you’re standing here for today.
So now is a new dawn over the Lion of Persia. And that new dawn is a free people. The Mullahs fear you. They fear the people of Iran. The IRGC, the goons of destruction, they fear you. But I say to the people of Iran and to you and to all freedom-loving people everywhere: don’t let the Mullahs keep you awake at night. You already keep them awake at night. Because they fear you. And to those folks over there: support the people, not dictators, not replacement dictators. Never go weary in your fight for freedom. Justice, freedom, and liberty are not just three words. They started years ago by other peoples. They’re in the Declaration of Independence. And to the Mullahs, I say: the people are not going away. They will not go quietly into the dark of the abyss. Because the Iranian people never in their souls will yield to tyrants. And that’s just the way it is.
Thank you very much.