H. Res. 492 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

September 12, 2023. 

Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 

1996, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 

2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022, Congress declared that it deplored the religious persecution by the 

Government of Iran of the Baha’i community and would 

hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding 

the rights of all Iranian nationals, including members of 

the Baha’i faith; 

Whereas, since 1979, Iranian authorities have killed or executed more than 200 Baha’i leaders, and more than 

10,000 Baha’is have been dismissed from government 

and university jobs; 

Whereas June 18, 2023, marks the 40th anniversary of the 

execution of 10 Baha’i women by the Iranian Government each witnessing the hanging of those hanged before 

her in a final failed attempt to induce abandonment of 

their faith after over 6 months of imprisonment and violent abuse, with the youngest only 17 years old; 

Whereas, on December 15, 2022, the United Nations General 

Assembly adopted a resolution (A/C.3/77/L.34) criticizing 

Iran for human rights abuses and calling on Iran to 

carry out wide-ranging reforms, including— 
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(1) to end its ‘‘continuing disregard for protections 

under Iranian law or internationally recognized safeguards relating to the imposition of the death penalty’’ 

and ‘‘to commute the sentences for child offenders on 

death row’’; 

(2) ‘‘to ensure, in law and in practice, that no one 

is subjected to torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment’’; 

(3) ‘‘to cease the widespread and systematic use of 

arbitrary arrests and detention’’; 

(4) ‘‘to release persons detained for the exercise of 

their human rights and fundamental freedoms’’; 

(5) ‘‘to address the poor conditions of prisons’’; 

(6) ‘‘to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms 

of systemic discrimination and other human rights violations against women and girls’’; 

(7) to cease the ‘‘increased harassment, intimidation, 

persecution, arbitrary arrest and detention of, and incitement to hatred that leads to violence against, persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious minorities, including Christians (particularly converts from 

Islam), Gonabadi Dervishes, Jews, Sufi Muslims, Sunni 

Muslims, Yarsanis, Zoroastrians, and, in particular, Baha’is, who have been subjected to a sudden increase in 

persecution, who have faced increasing restrictions and 

systemic persecution by the Government of the Islamic 

Republic of Iran on account of their faith and have been 

reportedly subjected to mass arrests and lengthy prison 

sentences, as well as the arrest of prominent members 

and increased confiscation and destruction of property’’; 

and 

(8) ‘‘to release all religious practitioners imprisoned 

for their membership in or activities on behalf of a mi-
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nority religious group, to cease the desecration of cemeteries and to ensure that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief’’; 

Whereas, in the 2023 Annual Report of the United States 

Commission on International Religious Freedom issued in 

April 2023, it is reported that— 

(1) the Government of Iran ‘‘escalated its persecution of Baha’is, conducting nationwide arrests and 

spreading propaganda against the group’’; 

(2) in February [2022], Judge Mohammadghasem 

Ain al-Kamali of Branch 1 of the Semnan Revolutionary 

Court ruled that [the parastatal entity known as] the 

Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO) could legally confiscate the property of Baha’is . . . Branch 54 

of the Tehran Appeals Court upheld the decision in August following the destruction of six Baha’i houses in 

Rooshankooh; 

(3) government officials arrested 14 Baha’is during 

a religious study in Ghaemshahr; and 

(4) the Government of Iran ‘‘continued its systematic campaign of Baha’i arrests’’ throughout the latter 

part of 2022; 

Whereas, in response to a surge in persecution in June and 

July 2022, involving the subjection of over 100 Baha’is 

to arrests, arraignments, sentencings, and raids on their 

homes and businesses across Iran, including the sentencing in June of 26 individuals in the city of Shiraz to 

a combined total of 85 years in prison, the Department 

of State’s Office of International Religious Freedom 

issued a statement on August 2, 2022, indicating that 

‘‘[a]mid a continued rise in arrests, sentences, and 

imprisonments, the U.S. urges Iran to halt its ongoing 
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oppression of the Baha’i community and honor its international obligations to respect the right of all Iranians to 

freedom of religion or belief’’; 

Whereas the Iran section of the Department of State’s 2022 

Report on International Religious Freedom issued in May 

2023 provides, in part— 

(1) ‘‘According to the Baha’i International Community (BIC), Amnesty International, multiple international 

news organizations, and the United Nations, in July and 

August, security forces in cities across the country conducted multiple raids of Baha’i homes, confiscated property deemed ‘illegitimate wealth,’ and arrested Baha’is in 

their homes or workplaces on unsubstantiated charges including ‘causing intellectual and ideological insecurity in 

Muslim society.’’; 

(2) ‘‘In August, a group of UN human rights experts released a joint statement calling on the government to stop the increasing arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of members of the Baha’i Faith 

and the destruction or confiscation of their properties in 

what the experts said ‘bears all the signs of a policy of 

systematic persecution’.’’; and 

(3) ‘‘In their August 22 statement, the UN experts 

stated that as of April, more than 1,000 Baha’is awaited 

imprisonment, following their initial arrest and hearings.’’; 

Whereas, on November 21, 2022, Ms. Mahvash Sabet and 

Ms. Fariba Kamalabadi, 2 former members of the disbanded informal 7-person leadership group of the Baha’is 

of Iran, who each served 10-year sentences from 2008 to 

2018 and have been detained since July 31, 2022, in 

Evin prison, were sentenced to an additional 10 years in 
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prison each after a summary trial lasting 1 hour; and on 

February 10, 2023, another former member of the disbanded leadership group, Mr. Afif Naimi, who had also 

served a 10-year sentence from 2008 to 2018, was sentenced on February 10, 2023, to 7 years in prison, which 

he began to serve on April 29, 2023; 

Whereas, on December 11, 2022, the Baha’i International 

Community organization reported that, ‘‘More than 320 

Baha’is have been affected by individual acts of persecution since the arrest [on July 31, 2022] of Mahvash 

[Sabet] and Fariba [Kamalabadi]. Dozens were arrested 

at various points in Shiraz, across Mazandaran province, 

and elsewhere throughout the country. Homes owned by 

Baha’is in the village of Roshankouh were demolished. 

Government plans to tar the Baha’is through hate speech 

and propaganda were also exposed. And at least 90 Baha’is are currently in prison or subject to degrading 

ankle-band monitoring.’’; 

Whereas, on April 21, 2023, the Department of State’s Office 

of International Religious Freedom issued a statement in 

a tweet indicating that, ‘‘[w]e are deeply concerned following the news of Mahvash Sabet’s injuries sustained 

while in prison. No one should be punished for their 

faith. We call on Iranian authorities to make sure Mrs. 

Sabet receives medical attention immediately and release 

her.’’; 

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; 
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Whereas section 105 of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 

Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 

8514) authorizes the President to impose sanctions on individuals who are ‘‘responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, 

the commission of serious human rights abuses against 

citizens of Iran or their family members on or after June 

12, 2009’’; and 

Whereas the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights 

Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–158) amends and expands 

the authorities established under the Comprehensive Iran 

Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 

(Public Law 111–195) to sanction Iranian human rights 

abusers: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) condemns the Government of Iran’s state-sponsored persecution of the Baha’i minority in Iran and the 

continued violation of the Universal Declaration of 

Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil 

and Political Rights; 

(2) calls on the Government of Iran— 

(A) to immediately release the imprisoned or 

detained Baha’is and all other prisoners held solely 

on account of their religion; 

(B) to end its state-sponsored campaign of 

hate propaganda against the Baha’is; and 

(C) to reverse state-imposed policies denying 

Baha’is and members of other religious minorities 
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equal opportunities to higher education, earning a 

livelihood, due process under the law, and the free 

exercise of religious practices; 

(3) calls on the President and the Secretary of 

State, in cooperation with responsible nations, to immediately condemn the Government of Iran’s continued violation of human rights, and demand the immediate release of prisoners held solely on account of their religion; 

and 

(4) urges the President and the Secretary of State 

to utilize available authorities to impose sanctions on officials of the Government of Iran and other individuals 

directly responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses against the Baha’i community of Iran. 

Attest: 

Clerk.