On July 13, 2019, dignitaries from dozens of countries across the world attended the main event of the Free Iran 2019 international conference. The conference was part of the five-day Free Iran 2019 series of conferences at the main headquarters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Ashraf 3, Albania. Several dignitaries, political and human rights activists delivered speeches, issuing remarks about the struggles of the Iranian people and their resistance movement for freedom in their country.
Following are key remarks by President of the In Search of Justice committee and former European Parliament Vice President Alejo Vidal Quadras at the Ashraf 3 conference.
Alejo Vidal Quadras:
Dear Mrs. President [Maryam Rajavi], dear Ashrafis, dear friends, it is for me a great pleasure and also a great privilege to participate once again in our annual grand gathering. I’ve been attending this magnificent event for 15 years and this is the first time we hold it in Ashraf 3 in Tirana in Albania.
I should say this is the first time we celebrate our gathering in Ashraf, because Ashraf 3 as Ashraf 2 and Ashraf 1 are one in the same city, the same uninterrupted and unfailing beacon of freedom, democracy, power of will, and hope. Massoud Rajavi has rightly called Ashraf the capital of the PMOI [MEK] and I want to use this opportunity to express my warmest greetings to him, the historical leader of the PMOI and to wish him well because a free Iran will need him very much.
I lived the unforgettable experience to visit Ashraf 1 as head of a Parliamentary delegation 11 years ago when I was in Iraq. I witnessed there the incredible miracle the PMOI had done in the middle of the desert, how they transformed a dry and desolate emptiness into a prosperous, alive, creative, and dynamic community
Believe me, for men and women that achieved such wonderful deed, for men and women of that quality, nothing is impossible. And you have repeated this gigantic task here in Ashraf 3. Dear Ashrafis, you are unbeatable.
This is why I am convinced that sooner than later, the evil regime that for four decades now has oppressed Iran brutally will fall and democracy, freedom and a decent life will be given to the Iranian people.
Hundreds of martyrs paid with the ultimate sacrifice of their lives both in Ashraf 1 and in Ashraf 2 before those who survived the deadly attacks, the denial of medical assistance, and the most terrible hardship, could finally be transferred to this safe location in Albania.
Yes, dear friends, Ashraf 1, 2 and 3 are only one Ashraf. There is a (continuing) line made of courage, faith and amazing endurance that has never been broken since the PMOI were founded half a century ago. And we are here today to say that there will not be an Ashraf 4 because the next Ashraf has already a name. A name blessed by thousands of years of history, by hundreds of generations of a great people, by a wonderful culture built by artists, writers, musicians, thinkers, scientists, craftsmen, farmers and traders along centuries. Ashraf 4 has already a name, and that name is Iran. Iran itself will be the final Ashraf.
The whole country will be our beloved and everlasting Ashraf the day when freedom, democracy, equality between men and women, and respect for human rights will reign in a land which has suffered too much and too long under the cruel rule of the most despicable group of murderers the east has seen in the last 100 years. The alternative to this nightmare is ready. The alternative exists and it is the NCRI and our leader, Maryam Rajavi. Maryam Rajavi and her dedicated and able team to which I am proud to belong. Yes, dear friends, dear Ashrafis, dear Mrs. President [Maryam Rajavi], the next Ashraf is coming. Nothing and nobody can stop it. And its name is Iran. Thank you.
