H. Res. 754 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

November 19, 2014. 

Whereas Iran is a member of the United Nations and a signatory to both the Universal Declaration of Human 

Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, among other international human rights treaties, without reservation; 

Whereas in violation of these and other international obligations, officials of the Government of Iran continue to perpetrate gross violations of the fundamental human rights 

of the Iranian people; 

Whereas Iranian women are increasingly subject to heinous 

acid attacks, either condoned by, or sponsored by, the 

Government of Iran, through the Basij and other vigilante groups; 

Whereas the Parliament of Iran recently enacted a law providing legal protection to private citizens to enforce a 

strict Islamic dress code and other behavior prescribed 

under Sharia law, emboldening the Basij and other vigilante groups; 

Whereas the Government of Iran ‘‘manipulates the electoral 

process’’, according to the United States Department of 

State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
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2013, ‘‘severely limit[ing] citizens’ right to change their 

government peacefully through free and fair elections’’; 

Whereas following voting irregularities that resulted in the 

election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Government of Iran brutally suppressed peaceful political dissent from wide segments of civil society during the Green 

Revolution in 2009 in a cynical attempt to retain its undemocratic grip on power; 

Whereas the Government of Iran has kept the principal leaders of the Green Revolution, Mir Hussein Moussavi and 

Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest since February 

2011; 

Whereas the United States Department of State consistently 

finds that Iranian authorities have ‘‘limited freedom of 

association through threats, intimidation, the imposition 

of arbitrary requirements on organizations, and the arrests of group leaders and members’’; 

Whereas the United States Department of State’s Virtual 

Embassy Tehran website highlights human rights violations and abuses in Iran on a weekly basis; 

Whereas the Government of Iran continues to restrict freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, particularly for 

journalists and human rights activists; 

Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran 

found in its August 2014 report that the laws and policies of the Government of Iran ‘‘continue to place overly 

broad restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression 

and access to information’’, including ‘‘severe content restrictions, intimidation and prosecution of Internet users 
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and limitations on Internet access through throttling and 

filtering’’; 

Whereas the ability of religious freedom and human rights 

activists to freely express themselves, and mobilize civil 

society, is actively thwarted by the Government of Iran; 

Whereas the Special Rapporteur found that the Government 

of Iran continues to apply capital punishment to offenders convicted of crimes below the international human 

rights law threshold of ‘‘most serious crimes’’; political 

prisoners; and juvenile offenders, including 8 individuals 

in 2014 believed to be less than 18 years of age at the 

time of their alleged crimes; 

Whereas Iranian women continue to face legal and societal 

discrimination, as well as rampant domestic violence, 

which is not specifically prohibited under domestic law; 

Whereas, on October 25, 2014, Iranian authorities executed 

Reyhaneh Jabbari, an Iranian woman convicted of killing 

a man she said she stabbed in self-defense during a sexual assault, an execution preceded by the lack of due 

process, including a reported forced confession; 

Whereas the United States Department of State issued a 

statement condemning Jabbari’s execution and calling on 

Iran to ‘‘respect the fair trial guarantees afforded to its 

people under Iran’s own laws and its international obligations’’; 

Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom found in its 2014 Annual Report that the 

Government of Iran ‘‘continues to engage in systematic, 

ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged detention, torture, and executions 
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based primarily or entirely upon the religion of the accused’’; 

Whereas the Government of Iran persecutes such religious 

minority groups as the Baha’is, Christians, Sufi, Sunni, 

and dissenting Shi’a Muslims (such as imprisoned Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi) through harassment, arrests, and imprisonment, during which detainees 

have routinely been beaten, tortured, and killed; 

Whereas since 1999, the United States Department of State 

has repeatedly designated Iran as a ‘‘country of particular concern’’ for severe violations of religious freedom 

pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act of 

1998 (Public Law 105–292), most recently on July 28, 

2014; 

Whereas the Government of Iran has long persecuted with 

particular intensity the Baha’i community, the largest 

non-Muslim religious minority in Iran, who number at 

least 300,000, and are viewed as ‘‘heretics’’, and therefore are subjected to repression on the grounds of apostasy; 

Whereas according to the United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom, since 1979, Iranian authorities have killed or executed more than 200 Baha’i 

leaders; 

Whereas ordinary Iranian citizens who belong to the Baha’i 

faith are disproportionately targeted, interrogated, and 

detained under the pretext of national security; 

Whereas senior governmental, military, and public security 

officials in Iran are responsible for ordering, controlling, 

and committing gross human rights violations that, in 
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many cases, represent national policies of the Iranian regime; 

Whereas the United States Department of the Treasury, pursuant to section 413 of the Iran Threat Reduction and 

Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8753), 

issued a General License in September 2013 to permit 

the exportation of services and the transfer of funds for 

activities related to human rights and democracy building 

projects in Iran, which facilitate United States nongovernmental organizations’ activities that increase Iranian access to information and freedom of expression; 

Whereas since 2010, the United States Department of the 

Treasury, in consultation with the United States Department of State, has sanctioned 19 Iranian officials and 18 

Iranian entities for their involvement or complicity in serious human rights abuses or in restricting the freedom 

of expression or assembly of the Iranian people; 

Whereas the most recent designation was for Morteza 

Tamaddom, former Governor-General of Tehran Province, designated May 23, 2014, under Executive Order 

No. 13628 for his involvement in censorship and other 

activities that limit the freedom of expression and freedom of assembly of Iran’s citizens; 

Whereas the United States led the effort in the United Nations Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the 

Special Rapporteur on Iran in order to further expose 

Iranian human rights abuses; and 

Whereas it is important that the President of the United 

States consistently and rigorously exercise the statutory 

authorities granted by the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 

Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 and the Iran 
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Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 

to impose sanctions on officials of the Government of 

Iran and other individuals directly responsible for human 

rights abuses, engaging in censorship, or engaging in the 

diversion of goods intended for the people of Iran: Now, 

therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) calls on the Government of Iran to abide by all 

of its international and domestic obligations with respect 

to human rights and civil liberties, including freedoms of 

assembly, speech, and press; 

(2) deplores the dramatic rise in executions of Iranian citizens by authorities since the election of President Hassan Rouhani in June 2013; 

(3) condemns, in particular, the recent cruel execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari, an Iranian woman convicted 

of killing a man she said she stabbed in self-defense during a sexual assault; 

(4) deplores the Government of Iran’s mistreatment 

of its religious minorities, including through the deprivation of life, liberty, and property; 

(5) condemns, in particular, the Government of 

Iran for its relentless persecution of its Baha’i minority; 

(6) calls on the Government of Iran to release all 

political prisoners and prisoners of conscience; 

(7) notes that the Administration has designated 

only one Iranian person for the commission of serious 
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human rights abuses under the Comprehensive Iran 

Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act, as 

amended, since May 30, 2013; 

(8) urges the President to increase the utilization of 

all available authorities, including the Comprehensive 

Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 

2010, to impose sanctions on officials of the Government 

of Iran and other individuals directly responsible for serious human rights abuses, including by freezing those 

individuals’ assets and barring their entry into the 

United States; 

(9) urges the United States Government to adopt 

and implement the following recommendations of the 

United States Commission on International Religious 

Freedom with respect to Iran— 

(A) continue to seek that violations of freedom 

of religion or belief and related human rights are 

part of multilateral or bilateral discussions with the 

Government or Iran whenever possible, and continue to work closely with European and other allies 

to apply pressure through a combination of advocacy, diplomacy, and targeted sanctions; 

(B) continue to speak out publicly and frequently at the highest levels about the severe religious freedom abuses in Iran, press for and work to 
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secure the release of all prisoners of conscience, and 

highlight the need for the international community 

to hold authorities accountable in specific cases; and 

(C) continue to call on Iran to cooperate fully 

with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the 

Human Rights Situation in Iran, including allowing 

the Special Rapporteur, as well as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or 

Belief, to visit and continue to support an annual 

United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning severe violations of human rights, including freedom of religion or belief in Iran and calling 

for officials responsible for such violations to be 

held accountable; 

(10) condemns the undemocratic elections process 

that denies Iranians the ability to freely choose their 

own government; and 

(11) stands with the people of Iran who seek the 

opportunity to freely elect a government of their choosing. 

Attest: 

Clerk.