McCain told NCRI members, “You have stood up and fought and sacrificed for freedom, for the right to live free, for the right to determine your own future, for the rights that are God given.” Not surprisingly, there was severe pushback by Tehran against the visit by McCain. Iran’s Foreign Ministry criticized him for meeting with members of the NCRI in Albania, issuing a threat, saying, “Washington will pay a price, for the meeting.”

Maryam Rajavi met with Sentor John McCain at a grand gathering in Tiran, Albania

The Hill, April 20, 2017 - A visit on Friday, April 14, 2017 by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), to Albania dramatically illustrates the growing role of the Congress in support of prodemocracy dissidents abroad.

A Bipartisan Tradition
McCain is a part of a long-term bipartisan custom of members who back democratic alternatives to dictatorships. One of his predecessors in the Senate was a Democrat, the late Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson. 

A Republican, Elliott Abrams, served as Jackson’s special counsel from 1975-76, and stated, “The essence of the Soviet dilemma [is that] the Kremlin must grant some freedom in order to maintain technological growth but allowing freedom undermines Communist ideology and discipline.

” This perspective was later embraced by President Reagan and his secretary of State, George Shultz.