II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3347 

To identify and impose sanctions with respect to persons who are responsible 

for or complicit in abuses toward dissidents on behalf of the Government 

of Iran. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2021 

Mr. TOOMEY (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To identify and impose sanctions with respect to persons 

who are responsible for or complicit in abuses toward 

dissidents on behalf of the Government of Iran. 

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 ‘‘Masih Alinejad Har5 assment and Unlawful Targeting Act of 2021’’ or the 

6 ‘‘Masih Alinejad HUNT Act of 2021’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that the Government of the Islamic 

9 Republic of Iran surveils, harasses, terrorizes, tortures, 


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1 abducts, and murders individuals who peacefully defend 

2 human rights and freedoms in Iran, and innocent entities 

3 and individuals considered by the Government of Iran to 

4 be enemies of that regime, including United States citizens 

5 on United States soil, and takes foreign nationals hostage, 

6 including in the following instances: 

7 (1) In 2021, Iranian intelligence agents were 

8 indicted for plotting to kidnap United States citizen, 

9 women’s rights activist, and journalist Masih 

10 Alinejad, from her home in New York City, in retal11 iation for exercising her rights under the First 

12 Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

13 States. Iranian agents allegedly spent at least ap14 proximately half a million dollars to capture the out15 spoken critic of the authoritarianism of the Govern16 ment of Iran, and studied evacuating her by mili17 tary-style speedboats to Venezuela before rendition 

18 to Iran. 

19 (2) Prior to the New York kidnapping plot, Ms. 

20 Alinejad’s family in Iran was instructed by authori21 ties to lure Ms. Alinejad to Turkey. In an attempt 

22 to intimidate her into silence, the Government of 

23 Iran arrested 3 of Ms. Alinejad’s family members in 

24 2019, and sentenced her brother to 8 years in prison 

25 for refusing to denounce her. 


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1 (3) According to Federal prosecutors, the same 

2 Iranian intelligence network that allegedly plotted to 

3 kidnap Ms. Alinejad is also targeting critics of the 

4 Government of Iran who live in Canada, the United 

5 Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates. 

6 (4) In 2021, an Iranian diplomat was convicted 

7 in Belgium of attempting to carry out a 2018 bomb8 ing of a dissident rally in France. 

9 (5) In 2021, a Danish high court found a Nor10 wegian citizen of Iranian descent guilty of illegal es11 pionage and complicity in a failed plot to kill an Ira12 nian Arab dissident figure in Denmark. 

13 (6) In 2021, the British Broadcasting Corpora14 tion (BBC) appealed to the United Nations to pro15 tect BBC Persian employees in London who suffer 

16 regular harassment and threats of kidnapping by 

17 Iranian government agents. 

18 (7) In 2021, 15 militants allegedly working on 

19 behalf of the Government of Iran were arrested in 

20 Ethiopia for plotting to attack citizens of Israel, the 

21 United States, and the United Arab Emirates, ac22 cording to United States officials. 

23 (8) In 2020, Iranian agents allegedly kidnapped 

24 United States resident and Iranian-German jour25 nalist Jamshid Sharmahd, while he was traveling to 


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1 India through Dubai. Iranian authorities announced 

2 they had seized Mr. Sharmahd in ‘‘a complex oper3 ation’’, and paraded him blindfolded on state tele4 vision. Mr. Sharmahd is arbitrarily detained in Iran, 

5 allegedly facing the death penalty. In 2009, Mr. 

6 Sharmahd was the target of an alleged Iran-directed 

7 assassination plot in Glendora, California. 

8 (9) In 2020, the Government of Turkey re9 leased counterterrorism files exposing how Iranian 

10 authorities allegedly collaborated with drug gangs to 

11 kidnap Habib Chabi, an Iranian-Swedish activist for 

12 Iran’s Arab minority. In 2020, the Government of 

13 Iran allegedly lured Mr. Chabi to Istanbul through 

14 a female agent posing as a potential lover. Mr. 

15 Chabi was then allegedly kidnapped from Istanbul, 

16 and smuggled into Iran where he faces execution, 

17 following a sham trial. 

18 (10) In 2020, a United States-Iranian citizen 

19 and an Iranian resident of California pleaded guilty 

20 to charges of acting as illegal agents of the Govern21 ment of Iran by surveilling Jewish student facilities, 

22 including the Hillel Center and Rohr Chabad Center 

23 at the University of Chicago, in addition to 

24 surveilling and collecting identifying information 


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1 about United States citizens and nationals who are 

2 critical of the Iranian regime. 

3 (11) In 2019, 2 Iranian intelligence officers at 

4 the Iranian consulate in Turkey allegedly orches5 trated the assassination of Iranian dissident jour6 nalist Masoud Molavi Vardanjani, who was shot 

7 while walking with a friend in Istanbul. Unbe8 knownst to Mr. Molavi, his ‘‘friend’’ was in fact an 

9 undercover Iranian agent and the leader of the kill10 ing squad, according to a Turkish police report. 

11 (12) In 2019, around 1,500 people were alleg12 edly killed amid a less than 2 week crackdown by se13 curity forces on anti-government protests across 

14 Iran, including at least an alleged 23 children and 

15 400 women. 

16 (13) In 2019, Iranian operatives allegedly lured 

17 Paris-based Iranian journalist Ruhollah Zam to 

18 Iraq, where he was abducted, and hanged in Iran for 

19 sedition. 

20 (14) In 2019, a Kurdistan regional court con21 victed an Iranian female for trying to lure Voice of 

22 America reporter Ali Javanmardi to a hotel room in 

23 Irbil, as part of a foiled Iranian intelligence plot to 

24 kidnap and extradite Mr. Javanmardi, a critic of the 

25 Government of Iran. 


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1 (15) In 2019, Federal Bureau of Investigation 

2 agents visited the rural Connecticut home of Iran3 born United States author and poet Roya Hakakian 

4 to warn her that she was the target of an assassina5 tion plot orchestrated by the Government of Iran. 

6 (16) In 2019, the Government of Denmark ac7 cused the Government of Iran of directing the assas8 sination of Iranian Arab activist Ahmad Mola Nissi, 

9 in The Hague, and the assassination of another op10 position figure, Reza Kolahi Samadi, who was mur11 dered near Amsterdam in 2015. 

12 (17) In 2018, German security forces searched 

13 for 10 alleged spies who were working for Iran’s al14 Quds Force to collect information on targets related 

15 to the local Jewish community, including kinder16 gartens. 

17 (18) In 2017, Germany convicted a Pakistani 

18 man for working as an Iranian agent to spy on tar19 gets including a former German lawmaker and a 

20 French-Israeli economics professor. 

21 (19) In 2012, an Iranian American pleaded 

22 guilty to conspiring with members of the Iranian 

23 military to bomb a popular Washington, DC, res24 taurant with the aim of assassinating the ambas25 sador of Saudi Arabia to the United States. 


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1 (20) In 1996, agents of the Government of Iran 

2 allegedly assassinated 5 Iranian dissident exiles 

3 across Turkey, Pakistan, and Baghdad, over a 5- 

4 month period that year. 

5 (21) In 1992, the Foreign and Commonwealth 

6 Office of the United Kingdom expelled 2 Iranians 

7 employed at the Iranian Embassy in London and a 

8 third Iranian on a student visa amid allegations they 

9 were plotting to kill Indian-born British American 

10 novelist Salman Rushdie, pursuant to the fatwa 

11 issued by then supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah 

12 Ruhollah Khomeini. 

13 (22) In 1992, 4 Iranian Kurdish dissidents 

14 were assassinated at a restaurant in Berlin, Ger15 many, allegedly by Iranian agents. 

16 (23) In 1992, singer, actor, poet, and gay Ira17 nian dissident Fereydoun Farrokhzad was found 

18 dead with multiple stab wounds in his apartment in 

19 Germany. His death is allegedly the work of Iran20 directed agents. 

21 (24) In 1980, Ali Akbar Tabatabaei, a leading 

22 critic of Iran and then president of the Iran Free23 dom Foundation, was murdered in front of his Be24 thesda, Maryland, home by an assassin disguised as 

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1 tion had identified the ‘‘mailman’’ as Dawud 

2 Salahuddin, born David Theodore Belfield. Mr. 

3 Salahuddin was working as a security guard at an 

4 Iranian interest office in Washington, DC, when he 

5 claims he accepted the assignment and payment of 

6 $5,000 from the Government of Iran to kill Mr. 

7 Tabatabaei. 

8 (25) Other exiled Iranian dissidents alleged to 

9 have been victims of the Government of Iran’s mur10 derous extraterritorial campaign include Shahriar 

11 Shafiq, Shapour Bakhtiar, and Gholam Ali Oveissi. 

12 (26) Iranian Americans face an ongoing cam13 paign of intimidation both in the virtual and phys14 ical world by agents and affiliates of the Government 

15 of Iran, which aims to stifle freedom of expression 

16 and eliminate the threat Iranian authorities believe 

17 democracy, justice, and gender equality pose to their 

18 rule. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms 

22 ‘‘admission’’, ‘‘admitted’’, and ‘‘alien’’ have the 

23 meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 

24 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 


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1 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

5 and Urban Affairs and the Committee on For6 eign Relations of the Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Financial Services 

8 and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

9 House of Representatives. 

10 (3) CORRESPONDENT ACCOUNT; PAYABLE11 THROUGH ACCOUNT.—The terms ‘‘correspondent ac12 count’’ and ‘‘payable-through account’’ have the 

13 meanings given those terms in section 5318A of title 

14 31, United States Code. 

15 (4) FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The 

16 term ‘‘foreign financial institution’’ has the meaning 

17 of that term as determined by the Secretary of the 

18 Treasury pursuant to section 104(i) of the Com19 prehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Di20 vestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8513(i)). 

21 (5) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per22 son’’ means any individual or entity that is not a 

23 United States person. 

24 (6) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

25 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 


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1 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law2 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

3 United States; or 

4 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

5 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

6 United States, including a foreign branch of 

7 such an entity. 

8 SEC. 4. REPORT AND IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RE9 SPECT TO PERSONS WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE 

10 FOR OR COMPLICIT IN ABUSES TOWARD DIS11 SIDENTS ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 

12 OF IRAN. 

13 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

16 of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the 

17 Treasury, the Director of National Intelligence, and 

18 the Attorney General, shall submit to the appro19 priate congressional committees a report that— 

20 (A) includes a detailed description and as21 sessment of— 

22 (i) the state of human rights and the 

23 rule of law inside Iran, including the rights 

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1 nic minorities, and the LGBTQ community 

2 in Iran; 

3 (ii) actions taken by the Government 

4 of Iran during the year preceding submis5 sion of the report to target and silence dis6 sidents both inside and outside of Iran who 

7 advocate for human rights inside Iran; 

8 (iii) the methods used by the Govern9 ment of Iran to target and silence dis10 sidents both inside and outside of Iran; 

11 and 

12 (iv) the means through which the 

13 Government of Iran finances efforts to tar14 get and silence dissidents both inside and 

15 outside of Iran; 

16 (B) identifies foreign persons working as 

17 part of the Government of Iran or acting on be18 half of that Government (including members of 

19 paramilitary organizations such as Ansar-e20 Hezbollah and Basij-e Mostaz’afin), that the 

21 Secretary of State determines, based on credible 

22 evidence, are knowingly responsible for, 

23 complicit in or involved in ordering, conspiring, 

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1 onment, torture, killing, or assassination of citi2 zens of Iran (including citizens of Iran of dual 

3 nationality) or citizens of the United States in4 side or outside Iran who seek— 

5 (i) to expose illegal or corrupt activity 

6 carried out by officials of the Government 

7 of Iran; 

8 (ii) to obtain, exercise, defend, or pro9 mote internationally recognized human 

10 rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms 

11 of religion, expression, association, and as12 sembly, and the rights to a fair trial and 

13 democratic elections, in Iran; or 

14 (iii) to obtain, exercise, defend, or 

15 promote the rights and well-being of 

16 women, religious and ethnic minorities, 

17 and the LGBTQ community in Iran; and 

18 (C) includes, for each foreign person iden19 tified subparagraph (B), a clear explanation for 

20 why the foreign person was so identified. 

21 (2) UPDATES OF REPORT.—The report required 

22 by paragraph (1) shall be updated, and the updated 

23 version submitted to the appropriate congressional 

24 committees, during the 10-year period following the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act— 


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1 (A) not less frequently than annually; and 

2 (B) with respect to matters relating to the 

3 identification of foreign persons under para4 graph (1)(B), on an ongoing basis as new infor5 mation becomes available. 

6 (3) FORM OF REPORT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each report required 

8 by paragraph (1) and each update required by 

9 paragraph (2) shall be submitted in unclassified 

10 form but may include a classified annex. 

11 (B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 

12 of State shall post the unclassified portion of 

13 each report required by paragraph (1) and each 

14 update required by paragraph (2) on a publicly 

15 available internet website of the Department of 

16 State. 

17 (b) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—In the case of a for18 eign person identified under paragraph (1)(B) of sub19 section (a) in the most recent report or update submitted 

20 under that subsection, the President shall— 

21 (1) if the foreign person meets the criteria for 

22 the imposition of sanctions under subsection (a) of 

23 section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 

24 Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public 


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1 Law 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note), impose sanc2 tions under subsection (b) of that section; and 

3 (2) if the foreign person does not meet such cri4 teria, impose the sanctions described in subsection 

5 (c). 

6 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions to be 

7 imposed under this subsection with respect to a foreign 

8 person are the following: 

9 (1) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—The President 

10 shall exercise all powers granted to the President by 

11 the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 

12 (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to 

13 block and prohibit all transactions in all property 

14 and interests in property of the person if such prop15 erty and interests in property are in the United 

16 States, come within the United States, or are or 

17 come within the possession or control of a United 

18 States person. 

19 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR

20 PAROLE.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.— 

22 (i) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.— 

23 An alien described in subsection (a)(1)(B) 

24 is— 


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1 (I) inadmissible to the United 

2 States; 

3 (II) ineligible to receive a visa or 

4 other documentation to enter the 

5 United States; and 

6 (III) otherwise ineligible to be 

7 admitted or paroled into the United 

8 States or to receive any other benefit 

9 under the Immigration and Nation10 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

11 (ii) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

12 (I) IN GENERAL.—The visa or 

13 other entry documentation of an alien 

14 described in subsection (a)(1)(B) shall 

15 be revoked, regardless of when such 

16 visa or other entry documentation is 

17 or was issued. 

18 (II) IMMEDIATE EFFECT.—A rev19 ocation under subclause (I) shall— 

20 (aa) take effect immediately; 

21 and 

22 (bb) automatically cancel 

23 any other valid visa or entry doc24 umentation that is in the alien’s 

25 possession. 


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1 (d) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The President 

2 may terminate the application of sanctions under this sec3 tion with respect to a person if the President determines 

4 and reports to the appropriate congressional committees, 

5 not later than 15 days before the termination of the sanc6 tions that— 

7 (1) credible information exists that the person 

8 did not engage in the activity for which sanctions 

9 were imposed; 

10 (2) the person has been prosecuted appro11 priately for the activity for which sanctions were im12 posed; or 

13 (3) the person has— 

14 (A) credibly demonstrated a significant 

15 change in behavior; 

16 (B) has paid an appropriate consequence 

17 for the activity for which sanctions were im18 posed; and 

19 (C) has credibly committed to not engage 

20 in an activity described in subsection (a) in the 

21 future. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORT AND IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RE2 SPECT TO FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITU3 TIONS CONDUCTING SIGNIFICANT TRANS4 ACTIONS WITH PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR 

5 OR COMPLICIT IN ABUSES TOWARD DIS6 SIDENTS ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 

7 OF IRAN. 

8 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 30 days 

10 and not later than 60 days after the Secretary of 

11 State submits to the appropriate congressional com12 mittees a report required by section 4(a), the Sec13 retary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Sec14 retary of State, shall submit to the appropriate con15 gressional committees a report that identifies any 

16 foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts 

17 a significant transaction with a foreign person iden18 tified in the report submitted under section 4(a). 

19 (2) FORM OF REPORT.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each report required 

21 by paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassi22 fied form but may include a classified annex. 

23 (B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 

24 of the Treasury shall post the unclassified por25 tion of each report required by paragraph (1) 


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1 on a publicly available internet website of the 

2 Department of the Treasury. 

3 (b) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The Secretary of 

4 the Treasury may prohibit the opening, or prohibit or im5 pose strict conditions on the maintaining, in the United 

6 States of a correspondent account or a payable-through 

7 account by a foreign financial institution identified under 

8 subsection (a)(1). 

9 SEC. 6. EXCEPTIONS; WAIVERS; IMPLEMENTATION. 

10 (a) EXCEPTIONS.— 

11 (1) EXCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENCE, LAW EN12 FORCEMENT, AND NATIONAL SECURITY ACTIVI13 TIES.—Sanctions under sections 4 and 5 shall not 

14 apply to any authorized intelligence, law enforce15 ment, or national security activities of the United 

16 States. 

17 (2) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA18 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions 

19 under section 4(c)(2) shall not apply with respect to 

20 the admission of an alien to the United States if the 

21 admission of the alien is necessary to permit the 

22 United States to comply with the Agreement regard23 ing the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 

24 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into 

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1 tions and the United States, the Convention on Con2 sular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and 

3 entered into force March 19, 1967, or other applica4 ble international obligations. 

5 (b) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER.—The President 

6 may waive the application of sanctions under section 4 

7 with respect to a person if the President— 

8 (1) determines that the waiver is in the national 

9 security interests of the United States; and 

10 (2) submits to the appropriate congressional 

11 committees a report on the waiver and the reasons 

12 for the waiver. 

13 (c) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 

14 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex15 ercise all authorities provided to the President under 

16 sections 203 and 205 of the International Emer17 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 

18 1704) to carry out this Act. 

19 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at20 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

21 violation of section 4(b)(1) or 5(b) or any regulation, 

22 license, or order issued to carry out either such sec23 tion shall be subject to the penalties set forth in sub24 sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter25 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 


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1 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that 

2 commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) 

3 of that section. 

4 SEC. 7. EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF 

5 GOODS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of this Act, the authorities and requirements to im8 pose sanctions under this Act shall not include the author9 ity or a requirement to impose sanctions on the importa10 tion of goods. 

11 (b) GOOD DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

12 ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or manmade substance, 

13 material, supply or manufactured product, including in14 spection and test equipment, and excluding technical data. 

Æ 


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