115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4744 

AN ACT 

To impose additional sanctions with respect to serious human 

rights abuses of the Government of Iran, and for other 

purposes. 

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iran Human Rights 

3 and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. UNITED STATES POLICY ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLA5 TIONS BY THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Iran is a member of the United Nations, 

8 voted for the Universal Declaration of Human 

9 Rights, and is a signatory to the International Cov10 enant on Civil and Political Rights, among other 

11 international human rights treaties. 

12 (2) In violation of these and other international 

13 obligations, Iranian regime officials continue to vio14 late the fundamental human rights of the Iranian 

15 people. 

16 (3) The Iranian regime persecutes ethnic and 

17 religious minority groups, such as the Baha’is, 

18 Christians, Sufi, Sunni, and dissenting Shi’a Mus19 lims (such as imprisoned Ayatollah Hossein 

20 Kazemeyni Boroujerdi), through harassment, ar21 rests, and imprisonment, during which detainees 

22 have routinely been beaten, tortured, and killed. 

23 (4) Following voting irregularities that resulted 

24 in the 2009 election of President Mahmoud 

25 Ahmadinejad, the Iranian regime brutally sup26 pressed peaceful political dissent from wide segments 
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1 of civil society during the Green Revolution in a cyn2 ical attempt to retain its undemocratic grip on 

3 power. 

4 (5) Since February 2011 the leaders of Iran’s 

5 Green Movement, former Prime Minister Mir 

6 Hossein Mousavi, his wife Dr. Zahra Rahnavard, 

7 and former Speaker of the Majles (parliament) 

8 Mehdi Karroubi, have lived under strict house ar9 rest, ordered by Iran’s Supreme National Security 

10 Council. 

11 (6) In 1999 the Iranian regime brutally sup12 pressed a student revolt that was one of the largest 

13 mass uprisings up until that point in the country 

14 since 1979. 

15 (7) Over a 4-month period in 1988, the Iranian 

16 regime carried out the barbaric mass executions of 

17 thousands of political prisoners by hanging and fir18 ing squad for refusing to renounce their political af19 filiations and in some cases for possessing political 

20 reading material, including prisoners of conscience, 

21 teenagers, and pregnant women. In a recently dis22 closed audiotape, the late Hussein Ali Montazeri, a 

23 grand ayatollah who served as former Supreme lead24 er Khomeini’s chief deputy, said that the 1988 mass 

25 killings were ‘‘the greatest crime committed during 
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1 the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn 

2 us’’. 

3 (8) Senior governmental, military, and public 

4 security officials in Iran have continued ordering, 

5 controlling, and committing egregious human rights 

6 violations that, in many cases, represent official poli7 cies of the Iranian regime. 

8 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 

9 Congress that the United States should— 

10 (1) deny the Government of Iran the ability to 

11 continue to oppress the people of Iran and to use vi12 olence and executions to silence pro-democracy 

13 protestors; 

14 (2) work with international partners to inves15 tigate human rights violations by senior officials of 

16 the Government of Iran, regardless of where or when 

17 such violations took place; 

18 (3) support efforts made by the people of Iran 

19 to promote the establishment of basic freedoms that 

20 build the foundation for the emergence of a freely 

21 elected, open, non-corrupt and democratic political 

22 system; 

23 (4) condemn Iranian human rights abuses 

24 against dissidents, including the massacre in 1988 

25 and the suppression of political demonstrations in 
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1 1999, 2009, and 2017, and pressure the Govern2 ment of Iran to provide family members detailed in3 formation that they were denied about the final rest4 ing places of any missing victims of such abuses; 

5 and 

6 (5) help the people of Iran produce, access, and 

7 share information freely and safely via the internet 

8 and other media. 

9 (c) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy 

10 of the United States to stand with the people of Iran who 

11 seek the opportunity to freely elect a government of their 

12 choosing, and increase the utilization of all available au13 thorities to impose sanctions on officials of the Govern14 ment of Iran and other individuals responsible for serious 

15 human rights abuses. 

16 SEC. 3. DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO IMPOSITION 

17 OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN PERSONS RE18 SPONSIBLE FOR OR COMPLICIT IN HUMAN 

19 RIGHTS ABUSES, ENGAGING IN CENSORSHIP, 

20 ENGAGING IN THE DIVERSION OF GOODS IN21 TENDED FOR THE PEOPLE OF IRAN, OR EN22 GAGING IN CORRUPTION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall sub25 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
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1 containing a determination of whether any senior officials 

2 of the Government of Iran or other Iranian persons meet 

3 the criteria described in— 

4 (1) subsection (b) of section 105D of the Com5 prehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Di6 vestment Act of 2010, as added by section 5 of this 

7 Act; or 

8 (2) paragraph (3) or (4) of section 1263(a) of 

9 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

10 Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 

11 note). 

12 (b) REVIEW OF CERTAIN ENTITIES.—The report re13 quired under subsection (a) shall contain a review of any 

14 activities of cooperative foundations or bonyads in Iran 

15 with a capitalization that exceeds $200,000,000 and that 

16 meet the criteria in paragraph (3) or (4) of section 

17 1263(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for 

18 Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 

19 note) for purposes of corruption. 

20 (c) FORM OF REPORT; PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

21 (1) FORM.—The report required under sub22 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

23 but may contain a classified annex. 

24 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The unclassified 

25 portion of such report shall be made available to the 
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1 public and posted on the internet website of the De2 partment of the Treasury— 

3 (A) in English, Farsi, Arabic, and Azeri; 

4 and 

5 (B) in precompressed, easily downloadable 

6 versions that are made available in all appro7 priate formats. 

8 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro9 priate congressional committees’’ means— 

10 (1) the Committee on Financial Services and 

11 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

12 Representatives; and 

13 (2) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

14 Urban Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Rela15 tions of the Senate. 

16 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES POLICY ON HOSTAGE-TAKING BY 

17 THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN. 

18 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

19 (1) Since 1979 the Iranian regime has engaged 

20 in various destabilizing activities that undermine the 

21 national security of the United States and its allies 

22 and partners. 

23 (2) These activities include the hostage-taking 

24 or prolonged arbitrary detentions of United States 

25 citizens and other persons with connections to Can-
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1 ada, the United Kingdom, France, and other nations 

2 allied with the United States. 

3 (3) The Iranian regime has detained on fab4 ricated claims a significant number of United States 

5 citizens, including Siamak and Baquer Namazi and 

6 Xiyue Wang, as well as United States legal perma7 nent resident, Nizar Zakka, in violation of inter8 national legal norms. 

9 (4) The Iranian regime has not provided infor10 mation on the whereabouts of or assistance in ensur11 ing the prompt and safe return of Robert Levinson, 

12 despite repeated promises to do so, after he was kid13 napped while visiting Iran’s Kish Island on March 9, 

14 2007—making him the longest held hostage in 

15 United States history. 

16 (5) The Iranian regime reportedly uses hostages 

17 as leverage against foreign investors to exact busi18 ness concessions in foreign investment deals. 

19 (6) The type of hostage-taking enterprise put in 

20 place by the Iranian regime is a crime against hu21 manity and a violation of customary international 

22 law. 

23 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 

24 Congress that— 
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1 (1) the Administration should fully utilize all 

2 necessary and appropriate measures to prevent the 

3 Iranian regime from engaging in hostage-taking or 

4 the prolonged arbitrary detention of United States 

5 citizens or legal permanent resident aliens, to in6 clude— 

7 (A) the use of extradition to try and con8 vict those individuals responsible for ordering or 

9 controlling the hostage-taking or arbitrary de10 tention of United States citizens; and 

11 (B) the use of the Department of Home12 land Security’s Human Rights Violators and 

13 War Crimes Center to target such individuals; 

14 and 

15 (2) the United States should encourage its al16 lies and other affected countries to pursue the crimi17 nal prosecution and extradition of state and non18 state actors in Iran that assist in or benefit from 

19 such hostage-taking to prevent such state and non20 state actors from engaging in this practice in the fu21 ture. 

22 (c) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

23 United States Government not to pay ransom for the pur24 pose of securing the release of United States citizens or 

25 legal permanent resident aliens taken hostage abroad. 
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1 (d) STRATEGY.—Not later than 120 days after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

3 shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

4 House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 

5 Relations of the Senate a report that contains a strategy 

6 to prevent elements of the Iranian regime from engaging 

7 in hostage-taking or the prolonged arbitrary detention of 

8 United States citizens or legal permanent resident aliens. 

9 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO IRA10 NIAN PERSONS WHO ENGAGE IN CERTAIN AC11 TIONS AGAINST UNITED STATES CITIZENS OR 

12 IRANIAN PERSONS. 

13 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con14 gress that the United States should coordinate with 

15 United States allies and other allies and partners whose 

16 citizens may be subject to politically-motivated detention 

17 or trial in Iran, to apply sanctions against Iranian persons 

18 that are responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for 

19 ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, such deten20 tion or trial. 

21 (b) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Comprehensive Iran 

22 Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 is 

23 amended by inserting after section 105C (22 U.S.C. 

24 8514c) the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 105D. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO 

2 IRANIAN PERSONS WHO ENGAGE IN CERTAIN 

3 ACTIONS AGAINST UNITED STATES CITIZENS 

4 OR IRANIAN PERSONS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose sanc6 tions described in section 105(c) with respect to each per7 son on the list required by subsection (b). 

8 ‘‘(b) LIST OF IRANIAN PERSONS WHO ENGAGE IN

9 CERTAIN ACTIONS AGAINST UNITED STATES CITIZENS

10 OR IRANIAN PERSONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

13 President shall submit to the appropriate congres14 sional committees a list of Iranian persons that the 

15 President determines, are knowingly— 

16 ‘‘(A) responsible for or complicit in, or re17 sponsible for ordering or otherwise directing, 

18 the politically-motivated harassment, abuse, ex19 tortion, or extended detention or trial of citizens 

20 of the United States or United States legal per21 manent resident aliens, regardless of whether 

22 such actions occurred in Iran; or 

23 ‘‘(B) responsible for or complicit in, or re24 sponsible for ordering or otherwise directing, 

25 the politically-motivated harassment, abuse, ex26 tortion, or extended detention or trial of Ira-
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1 nians, Iranian residents, or persons of Iranian 

2 origin outside of Iran. 

3 ‘‘(2) UPDATES OF LIST.—The President shall 

4 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

5 an updated list under paragraph (1)— 

6 ‘‘(A) each time the President is required to 

7 submit an updated list to those committees 

8 under section 105(b)(2)(A); and 

9 ‘‘(B) as new information becomes avail10 able. 

11 ‘‘(3) FORM OF REPORT; PUBLIC AVAIL12 ABILITY.— 

13 ‘‘(A) FORM.—The list required by para14 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified 

15 form but may contain a classified annex. 

16 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The unclas17 sified portion of the list required by paragraph 

18 (1) shall be made available to the public and 

19 posted on the websites of the Department of the 

20 Treasury and the Department of State. 

21 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION OF SANCTIONS TO IMMEDIATE

22 FAMILY MEMBERS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President is author24 ized to impose sanctions described in paragraph (2) 
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1 with respect to each person that is a family member 

2 of any person on the list required by subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(2) ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR VISAS, ADMIS4 SION, OR PAROLE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An 

6 alien who the Secretary of State or the Sec7 retary of Homeland Security (or a designee of 

8 one of such Secretaries) knows, or has reason 

9 to believe, is a family member of any person on 

10 the list required by subsection (b) is— 

11 ‘‘(i) inadmissible to the United States; 

12 ‘‘(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or 

13 other documentation to enter the United 

14 States; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admit16 ted or paroled into the United States or to 

17 receive any other benefit under the Immi18 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

19 1101 et seq.). 

20 ‘‘(B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The issuing con22 sular officer, the Secretary of State, or the 

23 Secretary of Homeland Security (or a des24 ignee of one of such Secretaries) shall re25 voke any visa or other entry documentation 
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1 issued to an alien who is a family member 

2 of any person on the list required by sub3 section (b) regardless of when issued. 

4 ‘‘(ii) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.—A 

5 revocation under clause (i)— 

6 ‘‘(I) shall take effect imme7 diately; and 

8 ‘‘(II) shall automatically cancel 

9 any other valid visa or entry docu10 mentation that is in the alien’s pos11 session. 

12 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA13 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions 

14 under paragraph (2) shall not apply to an alien if 

15 admitting the alien into the United States is nec16 essary to permit the United States to comply with 

17 the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the 

18 United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 

19 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, 

20 between the United Nations and the United States, 

21 or other applicable international obligations. 

22 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF FAMILY MEMBER.—In this 

23 section, the term ‘family member’ means, with re24 spect to an individual— 
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1 ‘‘(A) a spouse, child, parent, sibling, 

2 grandchild, or grandparent of the individual; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) a spouse’s child, parent, or sibling. 

5 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The provisions 

6 of this section shall terminate on the date that is 30 days 

7 after the date on which the President— 

8 ‘‘(1) determines and certifies to the appropriate 

9 congressional committees that the Government of 

10 Iran is no longer complicit in or responsible for the 

11 wrongful and unlawful detention of United States 

12 citizens or legal permanent resident aliens; and 

13 ‘‘(2) transmits to the appropriate congressional 

14 committees the certification described in section 

15 105(d) of this Act.’’. 

16 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

17 for the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and 

18 Divestment Act of 2010 is amended by inserting after the 

19 item relating to section 105C the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 105D. Imposition of sanctions with respect to Iranian persons who engage in certain actions against United States citizens or Iranian persons.’’. 

20 (d) AMENDMENTS TO GENERAL PROVISIONS.—Sec21 tion 401 of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Account22 ability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8551) is 

23 amended— 
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1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘and 305’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘, 105D, and 305’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘or 105C(a)’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘105C(a), or 105D(a)’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘or 105C(b)’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘105C(b), or 105D(b)’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 26, 2018. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4744 

AN ACT 

To impose additional sanctions with respect to seriIran, and for other purposes. ous human rights abuses of the Government of