I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 691 

To impose sanctions with respect to Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2023 

Mr. STEUBE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 sanctions with respect to Kata’ib Sayyid alShuhada. 

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 ‘‘Sanctioning Iranian5 Backed Militia Terrorists Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) is an Ira9 nian-backed Iraqi militia founded in 2003 by Abu 


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1 Mustafa al-Sheibani, who was sanctioned on Janu2 ary 9, 2008, by the Department of the Treasury 

3 ‘‘for threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and 

4 the Government of Iraq’’. Sheibani led a network 

5 which according to the Department of the Treasury 

6 conducted improvised explosive device attacks 

7 against United States soldiers in Baghdad. 

8 (2) KSS openly recognizes the Iranian Supreme 

9 Leader Ali Khamanei as its spiritual leader. 

10 (3) KSS is provided training, funding, and 

11 arms by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps 

12 (IRGC) and IRGC-Quds Forces and works closely 

13 with Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), Lebanese Hezbollah, 

14 and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), all of which have 

15 been designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations 

16 by the Department of State. 

17 (4) KSS has fought under the command of 

18 former IRGC-Quds Forces commander Qassem 

19 Soleimani. The militia has members who operate as 

20 a unit of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), 

21 which is a formal part of the Iraqi federal govern22 ment under the authority of the Prime Minister of 

23 Iraq and which receives funding from the Iraqi fed24 eral government, including salaries. 


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1 (5) Since its founding KSS has deployed forces 

2 to Syria to engage in military operations supporting 

3 the Government of Syria, including offensives in 

4 Daraa, Quneitera, the Damascus suburbs, and the 

5 Aleppo countryside. 

6 (6) In 2015, KSS threatened to ‘‘strike and de7 stroy’’ Saudi Arabia, saying in a statement: ‘‘We in 

8 the Sayyid al Shuhada Battalion consider Saudi in9 terests a legitimate and permissible target on all lev10 els, and we will strike and destroy them whenever it 

11 pleases us.’’. 

12 (7) In August 2019, Abu Alaa al-Wala’i, a lead13 er of KSS, said that ‘‘All Americans will be held 

14 hostage by the resistance factions in the event of a 

15 war.’’. 

16 (8) On February 14, 2020, the Department of 

17 State announced that sanctions were imposed on 

18 KSS pursuant to section 3 of the Iran, North Korea, 

19 and Syria Nonproliferation Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 

20 note) for engaging in illicit arms transfers to or ac21 quisition from Iran. 

22 (9) On February 25, 2021, President Biden or23 dered airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by 

24 Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria in response 

25 to attacks against United States personnel in Iraq. 


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1 According to the Department of Defense’s statement 

2 on February 25, 2021, ‘‘the strikes destroyed mul3 tiple facilities located at a border control point used 

4 by a number of Iranian-backed militant groups, in5 cluding Kait’ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kait’ib Sayyid 

6 al-Shuhada (KSS).’’. 

7 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 

9 sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to— 

10 (1) Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada; and 

11 (2) any foreign person that is a member, agent, 

12 or affiliate of, or owned or controlled by, Kata’ib 

13 Sayyid al-Shuhada. 

14 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de15 scribed in this subsection are— 

16 (1) sanctions applicable with respect to a for17 eign person pursuant to section 7412(b) of the Cae18 sar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 

19 8791 note); and 

20 (2) sanctions applicable with respect to a for21 eign person pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (50 

22 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property and 

23 prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, 

24 threaten to commit, or support terrorism). 

Æ 


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