II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4924 

To continue in effect certain Executive orders imposing sanctions with respect 

to Iran, to prevent the waiver of certain sanctions imposed by the 

United States with respect to Iran until the Government of Iran ceases 

to attempt to assassinate United States officials, other United States 

citizens, and Iranian nationals residing in the United States, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 

Ms. ERNST (for herself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. RISCH, Mr. 

INHOFE, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. WICKER, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. 

THUNE, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. CRAMER, 

Mr. TILLIS, Mr. DAINES, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. HOEVEN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. TUBERVILLE, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. 

SULLIVAN, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. SASSE, and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To continue in effect certain Executive orders imposing sanctions with respect to Iran, to prevent the waiver of 

certain sanctions imposed by the United States with 

respect to Iran until the Government of Iran ceases 

to attempt to assassinate United States officials, other 

United States citizens, and Iranian nationals residing 

in the United States, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Under5 handed and Nefarious Iranian Supported Homicides Act 

6 of 2022’’ or the ‘‘PUNISH Act of 2022’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com11 mittees’’ means— 

12 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

13 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Com14 mittee on Appropriations, and the Select Com15 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

16 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

17 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 

18 on Appropriations, and the Permanent Select 

19 Committee on Intelligence of the House of Rep20 resentatives. 

21 (2) COVERED EXECUTIVE ORDER.—The term 

22 ‘‘covered Executive order’’ means any of the fol23 lowing: 

24 (A) Executive Order 13871 (50 U.S.C. 

25 1701 note; relating to imposing sanctions with 


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1 respect to the iron, steel, aluminum, and copper 

2 sectors of Iran), as in effect on May 10, 2019. 

3 (B) Executive Order 13876 (50 U.S.C. 

4 1701 note; relating to imposing sanctions with 

5 respect to Iran), as in effect on June 24, 2019. 

6 (C) Executive Order 13902 (50 U.S.C. 

7 1701 note; relating to imposing sanctions with 

8 respect to additional sectors of Iran), as in ef9 fect on January 10, 2020. 

10 (D) Executive Order 13949 (50 U.S.C. 

11 1701 note; relating to blocking property of cer12 tain persons with respect to the conventional 

13 arms activities of Iran), as in effect on Sep14 tember 21, 2020. 

15 (3) COVERED PROVISION OF LAW.—The term 

16 ‘‘covered provision of law’’ means any of the fol17 lowing: 

18 (A) This Act. 

19 (B) Each covered Executive order. 

20 (C) The Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Pub21 lic Law 104–172; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note). 

22 (D) The Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 

23 Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 

24 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.). 


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1 (E) Section 1245 of the National Defense 

2 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 

3 U.S.C. 8513a). 

4 (F) The Iran Threat Reduction and Syria 

5 Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et 

6 seq.). 

7 (G) The Iran Freedom and Counter-Pro8 liferation Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8801 et seq.). 

9 (H) Title I of the Countering America’s 

10 Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 

11 9401 et seq.). 

12 (I) The International Emergency Economic 

13 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq). 

14 (4) GOVERNMENT OF IRAN.—The term ‘‘Gov15 ernment of Iran’’ includes— 

16 (A) any agency or instrumentality of the 

17 Government of Iran; and 

18 (B) any person owned or controlled by that 

19 Government. 

20 SEC. 3. CONTINUATION IN EFFECT OF CERTAIN EXECUTIVE 

21 ORDERS IMPOSING SANCTIONS WITH RE22 SPECT TO IRAN. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each covered Executive order 

24 shall remain in effect and continue to apply, and may not 


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1 be modified, until the termination date described in section 

2 10. 

3 (b) CONTINUATION IN EFFECT OF SANCTIONS DES4 IGNATIONS.—With respect to each person designated for 

5 the imposition of sanctions pursuant to a covered Execu6 tive order before the date of the enactment of this Act, 

7 the designation of the person, and sanctions applicable to 

8 the person pursuant to the designation, shall remain in 

9 effect and continue to apply, and may not be modified, 

10 until the termination date described in section 10. 

11 (c) PUBLICATION.—In publishing this Act in slip 

12 form and in the United States Statutes at Large pursuant 

13 to section 112 of title 1, United States Code, the Archivist 

14 of the United States shall include at the end an appendix 

15 setting forth the text of each covered Executive order. 

16 SEC. 4. CONTINUATION IN EFFECT OF NATIONAL EMER17 GENCIES DECLARED WITH RESPECT TO IRAN. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

19 (a)(2) or (d) of section 202 of the National Emergencies 

20 Act (50 U.S.C. 1622), the national emergencies specified 

21 in subsection (b) shall remain in effect and continue to 

22 apply, and may not be modified, until the termination date 

23 described in section 10. 


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1 (b) NATIONAL EMERGENCIES SPECIFIED.—The na2 tional emergencies specified in this subsection are the fol3 lowing national emergencies declared with respect to Iran: 

4 (1) The national emergency declared by Execu5 tive Order 12170 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to 

6 blocking Iranian Government property) and most re7 cently continued by the Notice of the President 

8 issued November 9, 2021 (86 Fed. Reg. 62,709). 

9 (2) The national emergency declared by Execu10 tive Order 12957 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to 

11 prohibiting certain transactions with respect to the 

12 development of Iranian petroleum resources) and 

13 most recently continued by the Notice of the Presi14 dent issued March 3, 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 12,555). 

15 SEC. 5. CONTINUATION IN EFFECT OF SANCTIONS WITH RE16 SPECT TO THE CENTRAL BANK OF IRAN, THE 

17 NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND OF IRAN, 

18 THE ETEMAD TEJARTE PARS COMPANY, THE 

19 NATIONAL IRANIAN OIL COMPANY, AND THE 

20 NATIONAL IRANIAN TANKER COMPANY 

21 UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER 13224. 

22 With respect to each Iranian person designated on 

23 January 1, 2021, for the imposition of sanctions under 

24 Executive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to 

25 blocking property and prohibiting transactions with perVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Oct 04, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4924.IS S4924

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1 sons who commit, threaten to commit, or support ter2 rorism), as in effect on September 9, 2019, the designa3 tion of the person, and sanctions applicable to the person 

4 pursuant to the designation, shall remain in effect and 

5 continue to apply, and may not be modified, until the ter6 mination date described in section 10. 

7 SEC. 6. CONTINUATION IN EFFECT OF FOREIGN TER8 RORIST ORGANIZATION DESIGNATION OF 

9 THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY GUARD 

10 CORPS. 

11 The designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard 

12 Corps as a foreign terrorist organization under section 

13 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

14 1189), and sanctions applicable to the Islamic Revolu15 tionary Guard Corps pursuant to that designation, shall 

16 remain in effect and continue to apply, and may not be 

17 modified, until the termination date described in section 

18 10. 

19 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON SANCTIONS RELIEF FOR IRANIAN 

20 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, INCLUDING WITH 

21 RESPECT TO PETROLEUM PURCHASES FROM 

22 IRAN. 

23 Section 1245(d) of the National Defense Authoriza24 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8513a(d)) is 


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1 amended by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY.—The Presi4 dent may not exercise the authority under paragraph 

5 (5) to waive the imposition of sanctions under para6 graph (1), or issue any license to authorize the pur7 chase of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran, 

8 unless the determination set forth in the most recent 

9 report submitted under subsection (a) of section 9 of 

10 the Preventing Underhanded and Nefarious Iranian 

11 Supported Homicides Act of 2022 was a determina12 tion that the Government of Iran has not engaged 

13 in any of activities described in subsection (b) of 

14 that section during the 5-year period preceding sub15 mission of the report.’’. 

16 SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON WAIVER, SUSPENSION, OR REDUC17 TION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO IRAN. 

18 The President may not waive, suspend, reduce, pro19 vide relief from, or otherwise limit the application of sanc20 tions imposed pursuant to any covered provision of law 

21 unless, in addition to the requirements for a waiver under 

22 that provision of law, the determination set forth in the 

23 most recent report submitted under subsection (a) of sec24 tion 9 was a determination that the Government of Iran 

25 has not engaged in any of activities described in subsection 


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1 (b) of that section during the 5-year period preceding sub2 mission of the report. 

3 SEC. 9. DETERMINATION ON THE CESSATION OF IRANIAN4 SPONSORED ASSASSINATIONS OR AT5 TEMPTED ASSASSINATIONS OF UNITED 

6 STATES CITIZENS AND IRANIAN RESIDENTS 

7 OF THE UNITED STATES. 

8 (a) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 

9 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

10 every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of State, in con11 sultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Director of 

12 National Intelligence, and the Secretary of the Treasury, 

13 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

14 a report setting forth a determination of whether the Gov15 ernment of Iran or any foreign person (including any for16 eign financial institution) has directly or indirectly or17 dered, controlled, directed, or otherwise supported (includ18 ing through the use of Iranian agents or affiliates of the 

19 Government of Iran, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Kata’ib 

20 Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or any other entity 

21 determined to be such an agent or affiliate) any of the 

22 activities described in subsection (b) during the 5-year pe23 riod preceding submission of the report. 

24 (b) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—The activities de25 scribed in this subsection are— 


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1 (1) the murder, attempted murder, assault, or 

2 other use or threat to use violence against— 

3 (A) any current or former official of the 

4 Government of the United States, wherever lo5 cated; 

6 (B) any United States citizen or alien law7 fully admitted for permanent residence in the 

8 United States, wherever located; or 

9 (C) any Iranian national residing in the 

10 United States; or 

11 (2) the politically motivated intimidation, abuse, 

12 extortion, or detention or trial— 

13 (A) in Iran, of a United States citizen or 

14 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence 

15 in the United States; or 

16 (B) outside of Iran, of an Iranian national 

17 or resident or individual of Iranian origin. 

18 SEC. 10. TERMINATION DATE. 

19 The termination date described in this section is the 

20 date that is 30 days after the date on which the President 

21 submits to Congress the certification described in section 

22 401(a) of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Account23 ability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8551(a)). 

Æ 


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