I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 566 

To require the President to report on the use by the Government of Iran 

of commercial aircraft and related services for illicit military or other 

activities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2017 

Mr. ROSKAM (for himself, Mr. SHERMAN, and Mr. ZELDIN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the President to report on the use by the Government of Iran of commercial aircraft and related services 

for illicit military or other activities, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Terror-Free Skies 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

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1 (1) Iran is designated as the world’s foremost 

2 state sponsor of terrorism and a direct threat to the 

3 national security of the United States and United 

4 States allies. 

5 (2) Iran, through its Islamic Revolutionary 

6 Guard Corps (IRGC), provides material and finan7 cial support to Foreign Terrorist Organizations 

8 (FTO), including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Kata’ib 

9 Hezbollah, as well as to the Bashar al-Assad regime 

10 in Syria which is responsible for over 400,000 civil11 ian deaths. 

12 (3) Iran has systematically employed its na13 tional air carrier, Iran Air, as well as numerous pri14 vate and publically owned Iranian and Syrian air15 liners, including Mahan Air, to ferry weapons, 

16 troops, and military equipment on behalf of the 

17 IRGC and Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed 

18 Forces Logistics (MODAFL) to FTOs and rogue re19 gimes around the world. 

20 (4) On June 23, 2011, the U.S. Department of 

21 the Treasury designated Iran Air pursuant to Exec22 utive Order 13882 for providing material support 

23 and services to the IRGC, including shipping mili24 tary-related equipment on behalf of the IRGC since 

25 2006 and transporting rockets or missiles to Syria. 

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1 (5) On January 16, 2016, Iran Air was delisted 

2 as a Specially Designated National (SDN) by the 

3 U.S. Department of the Treasury even though Iran 

4 Air had not ceased its illicit and sanctionable activ5 ity. 

6 (6) Iran Air remains owned and operated by 

7 the Iranian government and has, since January 16, 

8 2016, flown numerous unscheduled flights on well9 known weapons supply routes between Iran and 

10 Syria. 

11 (7) In correspondence with U.S. Members of 

12 Congress, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has 

13 refused to confirm that Iran Air has ceased its illicit 

14 activity. In a November 23, 2016, letter to Rep. 

15 Peter Roskam, Thomas Patrick Maloney, Senior Ad16 visor in the Office of Legislative Affairs of the U.S. 

17 Department of the Treasury wrote: ‘‘The United 

18 States retains the ability to designate any individual 

19 or entity that engages in sanctionable activities 

20 under our authorities targeting conduct outside the 

21 scope of the JCPOA, including Iran’s support for 

22 terrorism, human rights abuses, ballistic missile pro23 gram, and other destabilizing activities in the re24 gion.’’. 

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1 (8) Evidence supports that despite being re2 moved from the Specially Designated National 

3 (SDN) on January 16, 2016, Iran Air has since con4 tinued its illicit and sanctionable activity in support 

5 of the IRGC, MODAFL, Hezbollah, and the Bashar 

6 al-Assad regime since January 16, 2016. 

7 SEC. 3. REPORT ON USE BY THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN OF 

8 COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT AND RELATED 

9 SERVICES FOR ILLICIT MILITARY OR OTHER 

10 ACTIVITIES. 

11 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

12 of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days there13 after, the President, in consultation with the Secretary of 

14 Defense, the Secretary of State, and the Director of Na15 tional Intelligence, shall submit to the Committee on 

16 Armed Services, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the 

17 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House 

18 of Representatives and the Committee on Armed Services, 

19 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Select Com20 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate a report on use by 

21 the Government of Iran of commercial aircraft and related 

22 services for illicit military or other activities on or after 

23 the date that is the beginning of the 5-year period ending 

24 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

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1 (b) ELEMENTS OF REPORT.—The report required 

2 under subsection (a) shall include a description of the ex3 tent to which— 

4 (1) the Government of Iran has used commer5 cial aircraft, including aircraft of Iran Air, or re6 lated services to transport illicit cargo to or from 

7 Iran, including military goods, weapons, military 

8 personnel, military-related electronic parts and me9 chanical equipment, or rocket or missile components; 

10 (2) the commercial aviation sector of Iran, in11 cluding Iran Air, has provided financial, material, or 

12 technological support to the IRGC, MODAFL, the 

13 Bashar al Assad Regime, Hezbollah, Hamas, Kata’ib 

14 Hezbollah, or any other FTOs or entities designated 

15 on the SDN list; and 

16 (3) foreign governments and persons have fa17 cilitated the activities described in paragraph (1), in18 cluding allowing the use of airports, services, or 

19 other resources. 

20 (c) EFFECT OF DETERMINATION.—If, in a report 

21 submitted under this section, the President determines 

22 that Iran Air or any other Iranian commercial airliner has 

23 used or has been using commercial aircraft for illicit mili24 tary purposes on or after January 16, 2016, the President 

25 shall, within 90 days of making such determination, desmstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 ignate such airline as a specially designated national and 

2 blocked person on the list maintained by the Office of For3 eign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury. 

4 SEC. 4. SUNSET. 

5 This Act shall cease to be effective on the date that 

6 is 30 days after the date on which the President certifies 

7 to Congress that the Government of Iran has ceased pro8 viding support for acts of international terrorism. 

Æ 

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