IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 310 

Condemning the inaction by the Islamic Republic of Iran in addressing the 

poisoning of Iranian schoolgirls, the Daughters of the Iranian Revolution. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 20, 2023 

Ms. JACKSON LEE (for herself, Ms. MACE, Ms. ROSS, Mr. CURTIS, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. BACON, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 

PETERS, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, 

Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. 

GOODEN of Texas, Mr. COHEN, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mrs. KIM of California, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California, and Ms. CHU) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the inaction by the Islamic Republic of Iran 

in addressing the poisoning of Iranian schoolgirls, the 

Daughters of the Iranian Revolution. 

Whereas the Iranian people have been deprived of their fundamental freedoms for which reason they are rejecting 

monarchic dictatorship and religious tyranny, as evident 

in their protest slogans; 

Whereas more than 5,000 schoolgirls at more than 26 schools 

in 29 of Iran’s 31 provinces have now been hit by the 

poison gas since the first attacks in the city of Qom in 

November 2022; 


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•HRES 310 IH 

Whereas, according to a October 5, 2022, report by France 

24, ‘‘Iran schoolgirls lead protests over Mahsa Amini[’s] 

death’’; 

Whereas, since the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16, 

2022, many schoolgirls have been active in protests and 

tearing up pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali 

Khamenei, calling for his death; 

Whereas the Iranian regime has been slow to respond, and 

angry parents are turning out in droves to challenge the 

regime and are calling the attacks ‘‘targeted and deliberate’’ to keep girls from getting an education; 

Whereas protests have erupted in more than a dozen cities 

across Iran over the poisoning of thousands of schoolgirls 

and the government’s inability to contain the growing crisis with chants of ‘‘Death to the child-killing regime.’’; 

Whereas, in several cities, security forces have unleashed tear 

gas against people who were peacefully protesting the 

lack of action taken by the government to provide safety 

and security for schoolgirls; 

Whereas the Iranian judiciary has targeted journalists who 

have reported on the schoolgirls’ poisonings, accusing 

them of ‘‘spreading lies and rumors’’; 

Whereas the United States and the United Nations (UN) 

have called on the Iranian regime to fully investigate the 

suspected poisonings of schoolgirls and hold those responsible to account; 

Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 

Rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani has said, 

‘‘We’re very concerned about these allegations that girls 

are being deliberately targeted under what appear to be 

mysterious circumstances.’’; 


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•HRES 310 IH 

Whereas the World Health Organization’s (WHO) spokeswoman Margaret Harris stated that the agency contacted 

national health authorities and medical professionals 

about these incidents while ‘‘using other means to understand more about the event so that we have better evidence’’; 

Whereas medics, teachers, and parents accuse the Iranian authorities of silencing victims of suspected poisoning attacks; 

Whereas the Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, has ignored 

the attacks for more than 100 days and has responded 

with blaming protestors for the gas attacks on schoolgirls; 

Whereas, on September 16, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) 

Amini was killed in custody by the Iranian ‘‘morality police’’, which sparked the nationwide uprising for the last 

six months; 

Whereas women and youth have led the 2022 protests in 

Iran, demanding social freedom and political change; 

Whereas these protests are rooted in the more than four decades of organized resistance against the Iranian dictatorship, which have been led by women who have endured 

torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and death; 

Whereas, according to a December 9, 2022, Amnesty International report, ‘‘Iran’s security forces have killed with 

absolute impunity at least 44 children and injured many 

more in a bid to crush the spirit of resistance among the 

country’s youth and retain their iron grip on power at 

any cost’’; 

Whereas the similarity in slogans and tactics used by protests 

nationwide reflects the overarching demands of the IraVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR310.IH HR310

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•HRES 310 IH 

nian people and points to the organized nature of the 

protests; 

Whereas, on December 14, 2022, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a resolution to expel Iran from the Commission on the Status of 

Women (CSW) for the remainder of its 4-year term ending in 2026; 

Whereas the Department of State’s 2021 Country Reports on 

Human Rights Practices, released on April 13, 2022, 

cites that Iran’s ‘‘government and its agents reportedly 

committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, most commonly 

executions for crimes not meeting the international legal 

standard of ‘most serious crimes’ or for crimes committed 

by juvenile offenders, as well as executions after trials 

without due process’’; 

Whereas, on October 25, 2021, the United Nations Special 

Rapporteur (UNSR) on the situation of human rights in 

the Islamic Republic of Iran, Javaid Rehman, told the 

United Nations General Assembly that almost all executions in the country constituted an arbitrary deprivation 

of life, noting the ‘‘extensive, vague and arbitrary 

grounds in Iran for imposing the death sentence, which 

quickly can turn this punishment into a political tool’’; 

Whereas, on January 13, 2022, a United Nations report has 

urged ‘‘the international community to call for accountability with respect to long-standing emblematic events 

that have been met with persistent impunity, including 

the enforced disappearances and summary and arbitrary 

executions of 1988 and the November 2019 protests’’; 

Whereas the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in 

1988 was carried out based on a fatwa to execute all poVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR310.IH HR310

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•HRES 310 IH 

litical prisoners, including women and schoolgirls, who remained loyal to the Iranian Resistance, and subsequent 

death commissions were formed on July 19, 1988, whose 

members included the current Iranian regime’s President, 

Ebrahim Raisi, an official from the Ministry of Intelligence, and a state prosecutor, to implement the fatwa; 

Whereas, to date, 229 Members of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress have signed on as cosponsors 

of H. Res. 100, ‘‘Expressing support for the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran, and condemning violations of human 

rights and state-sponsored terrorism by the Iranian Government.’’; 

Whereas the large presence of young people, especially female 

students, in the recent protests have angered authorities, 

and in a speech broadcasted on Iran’s state TV on October 3, 2022, the Supreme Leader promised to punish 

youths who were involved; 

Whereas, over the past four decades, the Iranian regime has 

falsely attributed acid attacks on women, the litany of 

murders of writers and intellectuals, and the murder of 

Christian priests to foreign elements and the democratic 

opposition to the regime; 

Whereas women from all walks of life and social inclinations 

have played a prominent role in the nationwide uprising; 

Whereas the rallying cry of protesting women inside and outside Iran is ‘‘With or without hijab, onward to revolution.’’, which rejects compulsory hijab and respects women’s freedom to choose their own attire; 


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•HRES 310 IH 

Whereas the people of Iran, both men and women, are 

against compulsory religion, compulsory hijab, and compulsory government; 

Whereas the efforts by regime authorities to minimize these 

poisonings are reflected in the remarks by the Minister 

of Education of Iran on February 15, 2023, in which he 

said, ‘‘Most of the poisoning of students in Qom is 

caused by rumors that have scared the people and students, and some of them had pre-existing diseases’’; 

Whereas, according to a March 6, 2023, report by the judicial news agency, Mizan, the head of Iran’s judiciary, instead of arresting the perpetrators of the crime, they 

threatened those who exposed this crime and stated, 

‘‘The local Justice Departments in all provinces were ordered to set up a branch in the provincial capital to summon the people who spread lies in the case of 

poisonings’’; 

Whereas a statement by the Ministry of Interior on March 

12, 2023, attributed chemical attacks to ‘‘mischievous 

and adventurous’’ students ‘‘with the aim of closing 

classes’’ and ‘‘using smelly substances’’, or to ‘‘opponents 

and enemies (of the state)’’; 

Whereas Iranian state-run media have quoted experts that 

poisonous gas used to target schoolgirls is of the kind 

that is not available to the public; 

Whereas physicians and nurses are prohibited from sharing 

any information about the poisoning of the schoolgirls; 

and 

Whereas senior Iranian Government, military, judicial, and 

security officials have for decades ordered or committed 


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•HRES 310 IH 

egregious human rights violations and acts of terror: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns— 

3 (A) the deliberate gas attacks on the 

4 schoolgirls in Iran; and 

5 (B) the violent suppression by the Iranian 

6 regime of schoolgirls, men, and women who par7 ticipating in demonstrations, and calls for 

8 transparent accountability for all killings of 

9 protesters by Iranian security forces; and 

10 (2) urges the United States Government to— 

11 (A) initiate a formal process for an inde12 pendent investigation of the gas attacks on the 

13 schoolgirls in Iran; 

14 (B) work with the United Nations to send 

15 an independent fact-finding mission to Iran; 

16 and 

17 (C) work with the World Health Organiza18 tion to provide a transparent report to Con19 gress, based on an independent investigation, 

20 on how these attacks are taking place and who 

21 is behind these attacks on schoolgirls in Iran. 

Æ 


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