After the recent visit of former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh to the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), US Senator John McCain has also paid a visit to the Iranian resistance movement, which has resettled in Albania from Iraq after a deal between former Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the US government.
Last Friday, Senator McCain met with representatives of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) of the MEK, including its President-elect Maryam Rajavi, together with Deputy Chief of Mission David Muniz and US Embassy personnel.
The website of the US Embassy curiously fails to mention Senator McCain’s speech for the NCRI/MEK, stating on its website:
Senator McCain, who serves as the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, met with President Bujar Nishani, Prime Minister Edi Rama, Parliamentary Leader Ilir Meta, and Opposition Leader Lulzim Basha. Senator McCain also observed military training, and met with members of the Albanian Armed Forces.
Senator McCain, known for his strong opposition against the Iranian regime, reiterated his points to the Iranian organization, which until 2012 was listed by the US as a terrorist group:
We are now seeing an Iranian government that is seeking to expand its influence and tyranny throughout the Middle East. It is a fact that [Syrian President] Bashar Assad would not be in power today if it had not been for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian help and Hezbollah that came into Syria when Bashar Assad was about to fall.
There is no doubt that the Iranians are attempting to stifle freedom and democracy throughout the region. There is no doubt that the people in this room have suffered. They have suffered not only themselves but in the loss of their loved ones because of the Iranian tyranny, and I express my condolences to everyone in this room who has lost a loved one as a result of the Iranian tyranny and terrorism.
[…]
Some day Iran will be free. Some day we will all gather in that square.
In her speech, Mayram Rajavi declared “the Iranian resistance, the mojahedin, are determined to overthrow [the Iranian] regime and establish democracy in Iran.”
A full video of the Senator McCain’s visit can be seen here:
