Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania - Iran Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MEK \/ PMOI Free Iran rally in Albania \u2013 Governor Tom Ridge supported MEK and Maryam Rajavi\u2019s plan for a free and democratic Iran,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania - Iran Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MEK \/ PMOI Free Iran rally in Albania \u2013 Governor Tom Ridge supported MEK and Maryam Rajavi\u2019s plan for a free and democratic Iran,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Iran Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/4FreedominIran\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-03T07:07:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-05T19:56:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Tom-Ridge-min-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"447\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Iran Freedom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@4freedominiran2\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@4freedominiran2\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Iran Freedom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Iran Freedom\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0c0ca1f507008310991aaf03eca5f8d6\"},\"headline\":\"Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-03T07:07:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-05T19:56:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":770,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Tom-Ridge-min-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Videos\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/\",\"name\":\"Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania - Iran Freedom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Tom-Ridge-min-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-03T07:07:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-05T19:56:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"MEK \\\/ PMOI Free Iran rally in Albania \u2013 Governor Tom Ridge supported MEK and Maryam Rajavi\u2019s plan for a free and democratic Iran,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Tom-Ridge-min-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Tom-Ridge-min-1.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":447,\"caption\":\"U.S. Governor Tom Ridge announced his support for the Iranian people and their resistance under the leadership of Ms. Maryam Rajavi for a free Iran\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/media-gallery\\\/videos\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\\\/11939\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Iran Freedom\",\"description\":\"Uniting for Freedom, Democracy & Equality\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Iran Freedom\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/Iran-Freedom-logo-with-text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/Iran-Freedom-logo-with-text.png\",\"width\":251,\"height\":78,\"caption\":\"Iran Freedom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/4FreedominIran\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/4freedominiran2\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOlKtE23ls9XtndDe2dmXcg\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0c0ca1f507008310991aaf03eca5f8d6\",\"name\":\"Iran Freedom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a5dffed9e9c88987b4cfbd51b619e85f9ac9e9d4995463ec41ee804a650db8b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a5dffed9e9c88987b4cfbd51b619e85f9ac9e9d4995463ec41ee804a650db8b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a5dffed9e9c88987b4cfbd51b619e85f9ac9e9d4995463ec41ee804a650db8b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Iran Freedom\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/4freedominiran2\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iranfreedom.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/iran-freedom2\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania - Iran Freedom","description":"MEK \/ PMOI Free Iran rally in Albania \u2013 Governor Tom Ridge supported MEK and Maryam Rajavi\u2019s plan for a free and democratic Iran,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania - Iran Freedom","og_description":"MEK \/ PMOI Free Iran rally in Albania \u2013 Governor Tom Ridge supported MEK and Maryam Rajavi\u2019s plan for a free and democratic Iran,","og_url":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/","og_site_name":"Iran Freedom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/4FreedominIran","article_published_time":"2019-08-03T07:07:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-09-05T19:56:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":447,"url":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Tom-Ridge-min-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Iran Freedom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@4freedominiran2","twitter_site":"@4freedominiran2","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Iran Freedom","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/"},"author":{"name":"Iran Freedom","@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0c0ca1f507008310991aaf03eca5f8d6"},"headline":"Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania","datePublished":"2019-08-03T07:07:19+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-05T19:56:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/"},"wordCount":770,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Tom-Ridge-min-1.jpg","articleSection":["Videos"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/","url":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/","name":"Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania - Iran Freedom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Tom-Ridge-min-1.jpg","datePublished":"2019-08-03T07:07:19+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-05T19:56:42+00:00","description":"MEK \/ PMOI Free Iran rally in Albania \u2013 Governor Tom Ridge supported MEK and Maryam Rajavi\u2019s plan for a free and democratic Iran,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Tom-Ridge-min-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Tom-Ridge-min-1.jpg","width":800,"height":447,"caption":"U.S. Governor Tom Ridge announced his support for the Iranian people and their resistance under the leadership of Ms. Maryam Rajavi for a free Iran"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/","name":"Iran Freedom","description":"Uniting for Freedom, Democracy & Equality","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/#organization","name":"Iran Freedom","url":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Iran-Freedom-logo-with-text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Iran-Freedom-logo-with-text.png","width":251,"height":78,"caption":"Iran Freedom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/4FreedominIran","https:\/\/x.com\/4freedominiran2","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOlKtE23ls9XtndDe2dmXcg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0c0ca1f507008310991aaf03eca5f8d6","name":"Iran Freedom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5dffed9e9c88987b4cfbd51b619e85f9ac9e9d4995463ec41ee804a650db8b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5dffed9e9c88987b4cfbd51b619e85f9ac9e9d4995463ec41ee804a650db8b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5dffed9e9c88987b4cfbd51b619e85f9ac9e9d4995463ec41ee804a650db8b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Iran Freedom"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/4freedominiran2"],"url":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/author\/iran-freedom2\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11939"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11942,"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11939\/revisions\/11942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":11939,"date":"2019-08-03T09:07:19","date_gmt":"2019-08-03T07:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/?p=11939"},"modified":"2019-09-05T21:56:42","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T19:56:42","slug":"governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranfreedom.org\/en\/media-gallery\/videos\/2019\/08\/governor-tom-ridge-mek-iran-albania\/11939\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Tom Ridge Speech In MEK Free Iran Rally In Albania"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MEK \/\nPMOI\u00a0<\/a>Free\u00a0 Iran rally in Albania<\/a> \u2013 Governor Tom Ridge supported MEK and\u00a0 Maryam Rajavi\u2019s plan for a free\nand democratic Iran<\/a>, July 13, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Ridge: You\u2019re very, very\nkind, thank you very much. You\u2019re very kind. Madame Rajavi and guests, if you\npermit just one very, very personal expression of gratitude, less than two\nyears ago I suffered a very, very serious cardiac arrest. I won\u2019t go into the\ndetails but I think I died a couple times on the way to the hospital. And in\nthe course of my recovery, I received probably hundreds of letters and good\nwishes and prayer groups and the like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Ridge: And there\u2019s not\nanother group of people globally, another group of men and women with whom I\u2019ve\nbeen associated over these many, many years that sent me more cards of goodwill\nand of prayer and of support than those committed to your cause and your\nmission, the Iranian diaspora around the world. And I suspect some good wishes\nand cards from Ashrafis. So, I thank you for that kindness and your love <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Ridge: In the course of\nhuman history, recent history, the world has recognized and recorded the\nextraordinary leadership of women in trying and difficult and challenging times\nconfronting their country, their region and their value system. I think of\nGolda Meir in Israel. You think of Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain. Of\ncourse there have been many laudatory and richly deserved comments and expressions\nof gratitude and sincerity, affection for you, Madame Rajavi. Another woman I\nmet a couple days before she was assassinated was (Bena Zabouto). I recalled\none time she wrote, and it occurred to me, I was thinking about this as I went\nthrough that powerful exhibit yesterday, she wrote, \u201cWell, you can imprison a\nman,\u201d and when you refer to the MEK and the NCRI you can say, \u201cYou can imprison\na man or a woman,\u201d and yes they\u2019ve done that. And I met several yesterday who\nhad been imprisoned and tortured, tortured to the point where they were denied\nsleep, tortured to the point where they didn\u2019t have any skin on the soles of\ntheir feet, tortured to the point where they put in cages 60 centimeters wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Ridge: So you can imprison a man or a woman but\nyou can\u2019t kill an idea. She also said, \u201cYou can exile a man or a woman, and you\ncan\u2019t kill an idea.\u201d And I say to each and every one of you with whom I\u2019m\nprivileged to have had many conversations over the years, we\u2019ve listened today\nand will continue to listen to tributes to your courage, to your sacrifice, to\nyour relentless pursuit of justice and liberty and freedom in your home. A\nhome, a country, with a culture, a history, rich in tradition and rich in\ncontributions to the rest of the world. And as you engage in this fight\ntoday\u2014and as I said yesterday you will not be denied, you will at the end\nprevail\u2014you now fight for all those who cherish freedom and liberty and justice\nglobally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Ridge: And in fact there\nare so many men and women here form the diaspora of nations around the world\nwho will look to you. And many men and women whom you\u2019ve never met, probably millions\naround the world who look to you and your pursuit of freedom and justice. Their\nprayers are now with you as your prayers were with me and with so many others.\nThat you succeed because at the end of the day, as my friend and so many people\nhave referred to our friend Senator McCain, sometimes in your life you have the\nopportunity to pursue and embrace causes bigger than yourself. 120,000 men and\nwomen have died seeking and promoting and embracing a cause bigger than\nthemselves. You today embrace a cause bigger than yourself. And at the end, you\nwill prevail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Ridge: There will be an\nopen, pluralistic, non-nuclear, democratic Iran, and you, you, your courage,\nyour sacrifice, will be responsible for future generations to enjoy the liberty\nand freedoms that those of us blessed to live in countries that embrace those\nfreedoms sometimes we take them for granted every day. We need to look to you\nand remind ourselves how precious those freedoms and liberties and opportunities\nare. God speed on your journey. We will be with you all the way to the streets\nof Tehran. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"