Former U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy spoke at the Free Iran rally in Brussels, commending the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) for six decades of sacrifice and urging decisive international measures against Tehran.
In a heartfelt message to residents of Ashraf 3, he expressed gratitude for their “personal witness to freedom” and highlighted the movement’s perseverance: “Every year, the MEK has been tortured, jailed, and killed. But has that stopped the MEK? No, it hasn’t.” Kennedy emphasized that the group has resisted both the Shah’s secret police and the regime’s security forces, symbolizing “hope for a brighter future for a free Iran.”
Warning against concessions to Tehran, he declared, “Appeasement never brings security. Appeasement allows tyranny to thrive.” He called on Europe and the U.S. to “intensify sanctions, hold the IRGC accountable, and rally free nations against the mullahs’ oppression.”
Framing the struggle as a universal cause, Kennedy stated, “This isn’t just an Iranian issue. This is a human rights issue, and we are all human beings.” Concluding emotionally, he invoked his uncle’s famous 1963 Berlin speech: “President Kennedy said, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’ Today, as his nephew, I proudly say, ‘Man Irani hastam’ — I am Iranian.”
During the #BrusselsFreeIranRally on September 6, @PJK4brainhealth told our reporter @BorjkhaniP1847 that Iran's regime has no restrain and the EU should hold the regime accountable. pic.twitter.com/FCIgog53UF
— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) September 6, 2025
The full text of Patrick Kennedy’s speech follows:
Thank you all very much. It’s great to be back with all of you. I want to say to the Vice President, to the Prime Minister, to the Speaker, and most of all to Maryam Rajavi, thank you so much for allowing me to join you in this rally.
I also want to give a special shout-out to my friends in Ashraf 3. Thank you for your personal witness to freedom. You have fought an incredible battle on behalf of all Iranians by your courage through Ashraf 1, Ashraf 2, and Ashraf 3. I want to join you today to celebrate this 60th anniversary of the MEK. How powerful, as the speaker just said, it is to see over 60 years of sacrifice by members of the MEK. Every single year, the MEK has been tortured, jailed, and murdered. But has that stopped the MEK? No, it hasn’t.
As the speaker just said, the MEK and the PMOI have real power. They have the power to stand up to the guns, the bullets, the bombs, and the gallows. There’s no greater power than the power of the human spirit to stand up against such oppressive forces. So let us think about the MEK. It stood up to the Shah’s secret police. It has stood up to the mullahs’ secret terrorists, both in Iran and around the world. But today, the MEK doesn’t just represent opposition to the Shah and dictatorship; it doesn’t just represent opposition to the mullahs and theocracy. It also today represents the hope for a brighter future for a free Iran, embodied by the leadership of Maryam Rajavi and the NCRI.
I want to thank my European colleagues for being here to say enough is enough with appeasement. Appeasement never gets us security. Appeasement invites fascism to continue to prevail. And so, we need to double down on the sanctions. We need to double down on ensuring that the IRGC is held accountable. We, at this time in history, must stand up in a united way, free people everywhere in the world, against the kind of oppression represented by the mullahs in Iran.
So, you see me, you see Vice President Pence, you see the Speaker and the Prime Minister, you see people from every corner of the world. And isn’t it something we’re also here with our great friend Alejo Vidal-Quadras, our living martyr of the movement.
You might ask yourself, why is someone from Ireland, England, Rome, Brussels all standing here with you, Maryam Rajavi? Because this isn’t just an Iranian issue. This is a human rights issue, and we’re all human beings. And if I were in Iran today, in jail, waiting to be executed, I would hope that there would be someone elsewhere in the world that would stand up for me, not because I was an Iranian, but because I was a human being and I cared about my fellow human beings.
So, I will conclude with this: My uncle, President Kennedy, in the height of the Cold War in Berlin, said, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” And when he said that, John F. Kennedy said that all people who were free around the world stood with the people in Berlin during that siege. And so today, as John F. Kennedy’s nephew, I’m proud to echo his words in Berlin and say, “Man Irani hastam.”
