In a passionate address during a bipartisan Senate event on April 8, 2025, U.S. Senator Cory Booker emphasized the urgent need for a unified American voice in support of a democratic and non-nuclear Iran, while paying tribute to the courage of the Iranian people and the diaspora advocating for human rights and justice.
“This is one of those issues that’s not right or left, it’s right or wrong,” Senator Booker said, stressing that the struggle for freedom in Iran transcends political affiliations in the United States. “Our relationship with the Iranian people and their calls for justice is so critical to the United States’ security, the United States’ strength, and the very values which we all adhere to.”
Senator Booker praised the courage of Iranians standing up to tyranny inside the country and in exile, highlighting the Iranian American community’s role in raising awareness and pushing forward policy efforts. “The Iranian American community means to me personally,” he said, naming friends and advocates who had helped him “be a better Senator on issues that are vital to the United States of America.”
Senator Cory Booker spoke at yesterday's Senate Event “IRAN POLICY: Countering Tehran’s War and Terror” @CoryBooker
📺 WATCH FULL REMARKS HERE: https://t.co/MB3sngqRAR
— OIAC: Organization of Iranian American Communities (@OrgIAC) April 9, 2025
Senator Booker called the moment “a time of unprecedented urgency,” urging bipartisan resolve in the face of Tehran’s repressive policies and destabilizing regional actions. He outlined the critical goals the U.S. must pursue: “A non-nuclear Iran, an end to what Iran is doing through its proxies, which is causing terror and instability in the region, the suppression of freedom and human rights not just in Iran, but for the Ashraf 3 community and others.”
He underscored his own leadership in advancing bipartisan resolutions and statements in the U.S. Senate aligned with the goals of the Iranian Resistance. “I’m proud to be leading in the Senate… in a bipartisan clarion call, towards our convictions and our values and our ideals,” he declared.
Reflecting on his own 25-hour speech in the Senate, Booker remarked, “Standing 25 hours in the Senate is nothing compared to the conviction and the bravery of Iranian people who stand for justice, who put their lives on the line, who’ve suffered torture and imprisonment and more.”
Senator Booker also invoked the moral legacy of civil rights leaders in the United States, stating that America’s destiny is intertwined with the fate of those struggling for liberty elsewhere. Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he said: “We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
In a message aired separately by Simay Azadi, the Resistance-affiliated satellite TV channel, Booker addressed the people of Iran directly: “You are not alone. There are freedom-loving people all around the world, especially here in the United States, that stand with you in the larger cause for democracy, for freedom and for justice.
So please, keep your faith, keep your understanding that you are on the right side of history, and that together we will bend the arc of the moral universe more toward the justice that you seek.
Because the justice you seek is fully in the interest of free people all around the world. We are all in this together. Inshallah, we will see justice in the future for everyone.”
Concluding his speech, Senator Booker expressed hope that a free and democratic Iran is not only possible, but within reach: “I’m calling us to understand and believe, with firm hope, that one day we will all stand and celebrate that the people of Iran are free again, that the people of Iran see justice again, that the people of Iran have claimed for themselves what all people of this world deserve — a nation with a democratic North Star and a people who enjoy the blessings of liberty.”
Simay Azadi’s exclusive interview with @CoryBooker
on the sidelines of the conference in the Senate: 'To Iran’s people: You’re not alone, we stand with you for justice.' #FreeIran2025 pic.twitter.com/eSWxQSQ9ME— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) April 10, 2025