Former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army General Jack Keane joined the Online Free Iran Global Summit. In his remarks, Gen. Keane said, “I fully support your resistance movement and your drive for freedom… We in America are inspired by the Iranian people’s raw courage and by Maryam Rajavi’s leadership… Mullahs, get lost. Free Iran. Free Iran.”

The Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) managed to hold this year’s annual gathering virtually on July 17. Given the novel coronavirus pandemic and its restriction, many dignitaries commended the NCRI’s ability and determination for connecting 30,000 locations to Ashraf-3, home to members of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

Here is the speech of Gen. Keane: 

I’m honored to be with the National Council of Resistance of Iran and your exceptional courageous leader, Maryam Rajavi. I join my American colleagues and leaders around the world in fully supporting your resistance movement and your drive for a free Iran.

The wind is truly at your back. The momentum shift just in the past year is significant and dramatic. We can see it. We can feel it. The United States government’s maximum pressure campaign is working. The regime is much weaker, more isolated, and more vulnerable than at any time in the 40-year tyrannical rule of the Iranian regime.

Civil unrest and uprisings are taking place not just in Tehran but throughout the country through different socioeconomic groups. The people are holding the mullahs responsible for what is happening. Tragically, 1,500 Iranian people were killed demonstrating against the regime in November alone.

The regime funding support for foreign wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan, is less than what it used to be. The architect of those wars and the regime’s number one terrorist, Qassem Soleimani, is dead. The momentum is gaining. We can see it, we can feel it.

The regime has mismanaged the coronavirus with an inadequate hospital infrastructure and a lack of vital supplies and equipment. And of course, predictably, they lied about it.

In Behbahan in an oil-rich region of Iran, the people of Behbahan were in the streets. Here is what they were chanting: “Shame on you Khamenei, leave our country alone. No to Gaza. No to Lebanon. We sacrifice our lives for Iran.” Nothing is more inspiring than to see everyday people willing to die for freedom. I’m always in awe of it. These brave people don’t want to die, but what makes them so special is they are willing to.

We in America are inspired by Iranian people’s raw courage and by Maryam Rajavi‘s leadership. The momentum is gaining. We can see it. We can feel it. I say to you, my dear Iranian friends, in the words of your own people, mullahs get lost. Free Iran, free Iran.