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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1033

To impose comprehensive economic sanctions against Iran.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 23, 1995

Mr. KING (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. NEY) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and, in

addition, to the Committees on Banking and Financial Services and

International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To impose comprehensive economic sanctions against Iran.

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 ‘‘Comprehensive Iran

5 Sanctions Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 (a) IRAN’S VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS.—The

8 Congress makes the following findings with respect to

9 Iran’s violations of human rights:
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1 (1) As cited by the 1991 United Nations Spe2 cial Representative on Human Rights, Amnesty

3 International, and the United States Department of

4 State, the Government of Iran has conducted assas5 sinations outside of Iran, such as that of former

6 Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar for which the

7 Government of France issued arrest warrants for

8 several Iranian governmental officials.

9 (2) As cited by the 1991 United Nations Spe10 cial Representative on Human Rights and by Am11 nesty International, the Government of Iran has

12 conducted revolutionary trials which do not meet

13 internationally recognized standards of fairness or

14 justice. These trials have included such violations as

15 a lack of procedural safeguards, trial times of 5 min16 utes or less, limited access to defense counsel, forced

17 confessions, and summary executions.

18 (3) As cited by the 1991 United Nations Spe19 cial Representative on Human Rights, the Govern20 ment of Iran systematically represses its Baha’i

21 population. Persecutions of this small religious com22 munity include assassinations, arbitrary arrests,

23 electoral prohibitions, and denial of applications for

24 documents such as passports.
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1 (4) As cited by the 1991 United Nations Spe2 cial Representative on Human Rights, the Govern3 ment of Iran suppresses opposition to its govern4 ment. Political organizations such as the Freedom

5 Movement are banned from parliamentary elections,

6 have their telephones tapped and their mail opened,

7 and are systematically harassed and intimidated.

8 (5) As cited by the 1991 United Nations Spe9 cial Representative on Human Rights and Amnesty

10 International, the Government of Iran has failed to

11 recognize the importance of international human

12 rights. This includes suppression of Iranian human

13 rights movements such as the Freedom Movement,

14 lack of cooperation with international human rights

15 organizations such as the International Red Cross,

16 and an overall apathy toward human rights in gen17 eral. This lack of concern prompted the Special Rep18 resentative to state in his report that Iran had made

19 ‘‘no appreciable progress towards improved compli20 ance with human rights in accordance with the cur21 rent international instruments’’.

22 (6) As cited by Amnesty International, the Gov23 ernment of Iran continues to torture its political

24 prisoners. Torture methods include burns, arbitrary

25 blows, severe beatings, and positions inducing pain.
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1 (b) IRAN’S ACTS OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.—

2 The Congress makes the following findings, based on the

3 records of the Department of State, with respect to Iran’s

4 acts of international terrorism:

5 (1) As cited by the Department of State, the

6 Government of Iran was the greatest supporter of

7 state terrorism in 1992, supporting over 20 terrorist

8 acts, including the bombing of the Israeli Embassy

9 in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people.

10 (2) As cited by the Department of State, the

11 Government of Iran is a sponsor of radical religious

12 groups that have used terrorism as a tool. These in13 clude such groups as Hezballah, HAMAS, the Turk14 ish Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for

15 the Liberation of Palestine-General Command

16 (PFLP–GC).

17 (3) As cited by the Department of State, the

18 Government of Iran has resorted to international

19 terrorism as a means of obtaining political gain.

20 These actions have included not only the assassina21 tion of former Prime Minister Bakhitiar, but the

22 death sentence imposed on Salman Rushdie, and the

23 assassination of the leader of the Kurdish Demo24 cratic Party of Iran.
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1 (4) As cited by the Department of State and

2 the Vice President’s Task Force on Combatting Ter3 rorism, the Government of Iran has long been a pro4 ponent of terrorist actions against the United

5 States, beginning with the takeover of the United

6 States Embassy in Tehran in 1979. Iranian support

7 of extremist groups have led to the following attacks

8 upon the United States as well:

9 (A) The car bomb attack on the United

10 States Embassy in Beirut killing 49 in 1983 by

11 the Hezballah.

12 (B) The car bomb attack on the United

13 States Marine Barracks in Beirut killing 241 in

14 1983 by the Hezballah.

15 (C) The assassination of American Univer16 sity President in 1984 by the Hezballah.

17 (D) The kidnapping of all American hos18 tages in Lebanon from 1984–86 by the

19 Hezballah.

20 SEC. 3. TRADE EMBARGO.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

22 (c), effective on the date of enactment of this Act, a total

23 trade embargo shall be in force between the United States

24 and Iran.
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1 (b) COVERED TRANSACTIONS.—As part of such em2 bargo the following transactions are prohibited:

3 (1) Any transaction in the currency exchange of

4 Iran.

5 (2) The transfer of credit or payments between,

6 by, through, or to any banking institution, to the ex7 tent that such transfers or payments involve any in8 terest of Iran or a national thereof.

9 (3) The importing from, or exporting to, Iran

10 of currency or securities.

11 (4) Any acquisition, holding, withholding, use,

12 transfer, withdrawal, transportation, importation or

13 exportation of, or dealing in, or exercising any right,

14 power, or privilege with respect to, or any trans15 action involving, any property in which Iran or any

16 national thereof has any interest; by any person, or

17 with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdic18 tion of the United States.

19 (5) The licensing for export to Iran, or for ex20 port to any other country for reexport to Iran, by

21 any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United

22 States of any item or technology controlled under

23 the Export Administration Act of 1979, the Arms

24 Export Control Act, or the Atomic Energy Act of

25 1954.
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1 (6) The importation into the United States of

2 any good or service which is, in whole or in part,

3 grown, produced, manufactured, extracted, or proc4 essed in Iran.

5 (c) EXTRATERRITORIAL APPLICATION.—In addition

6 to the transactions described in subsection (b), the trade

7 embargo imposed by this Act prohibits any transaction de8 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of that subsection

9 when engaged in by a United States national abroad.

10 (d) EXCEPTIONS.—This section shall not apply to

11 any transaction involving the furnishing, for humanitarian

12 purposes, of food, clothing, medicine, or medical supplies,

13 instruments, or equipment to Iran or to any national

14 thereof.

15 (e) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates this sec16 tion or any license, order, or regulation issued under this

17 section shall be subject to the same penalties as are appli18 cable under section 206 of the International Emergency

19 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to violations of

20 licenses, orders, or regulations under that Act.

21 (f) APPLICATION TO EXISTING LAW.—This section

22 shall apply notwithstanding any other provision of law or

23 international agreement.
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1 SEC. 4. OPPOSITION TO MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE.

2 (a) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.—(1)

3 The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United

4 States executive director of each international financial in5 stitution described in paragraph (2) to oppose and vote

6 against any extension of credit or other financial assist7 ance by that institution to Iran.

8 (2) The international financial institutions referred

9 to in paragraph (1) are the International Bank for Recon10 struction and Development, the International Develop11 ment Association, the Asian Development Bank, and the

12 International Monetary Fund.

13 (b) UNITED NATIONS.—It is the sense of the Con14 gress that the United States Permanent Representative to

15 the United Nations should oppose and vote against the

16 provision of any assistance by the United Nations or any

17 of its specialized agencies to Iran.

18 SEC. 5. WAIVER AUTHORITY.

19 The provisions of sections 3 and 4 shall not apply

20 if the President determines and certifies to the appro21 priate congressional committees that Iran—

22 (1) has substantially improved its adherence to

23 internationally recognized standards of human

24 rights;

25 (2) has ceased its efforts to acquire a nuclear

26 explosive device; and
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1 (3) has ceased support for acts of international

2 terrorism.

3 SEC. 6. REPORT REQUIRED.

4 Beginning 60 days after the date of enactment of this

5 Act, and every 90 days thereafter, the President shall sub6 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report

7 describing—

8 (1) the nuclear and other military capabilities

9 of Iran; and

10 (2) the support, if any, provided by Iran for

11 acts of international terrorism.

12 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

13 For purposes of this Act—

14 (1) the term ‘‘act of international terrorism’’

15 means an act—

16 (A) which is violent or dangerous to

17 human life and that is a violation of the crimi18 nal laws of the United States or of any State

19 or that would be a criminal violation if commit20 ted within the jurisdiction of the United States

21 or any State; and

22 (B) which appears to be intended—

23 (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian

24 population;
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1 (ii) to influence the policy of a govern2 ment by intimidation or coercion; or

3 (iii) to affect the conduct of a govern4 ment by assassination or kidnapping.

5 (2) the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations

7 of the Senate and the Committee on International

8 Relations of the House of Representatives;

9 (3) the term ‘‘Iran’’ includes any agency or in10 strumentality of Iran;

11 (4) the term ‘‘United States’’ means the several

12 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

13 of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern

14 Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Vir15 gin Islands, and any other territory or possession of

16 the United States; and

17 (5) the term ‘‘United States national’’ means—

18 (A) a natural person who is a citizen of the

19 United States or who owes permanent alle20 giance to the United States;

21 (B) a corporation or other legal entity

22 which is organized under the laws of the United

23 States, any State or territory thereof, or the

24 District of Columbia, if natural persons who are

25 nationals of the United States own, directly or
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1 indirectly, more than 50 percent of the out2 standing capital stock or other beneficial inter3 est in such legal entity; and

4 (C) any foreign subsidiary of a corporation

5 or other legal entity described in subparagraph

6 (B).

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