I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 589 

To impose sanctions on the Supreme Leader of Iran and the President 

of Iran and their respective offices for human rights abuses and support 

for terrorism. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2023 

Mr. BANKS (for himself, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. WALTZ, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. 

WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. CRENSHAW, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. FALLON, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. GUEST, 

Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. SWALWELL, and Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, 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 on the Supreme Leader of Iran and 

the President of Iran and their respective offices for 

human rights abuses and support for terrorism. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mahsa Amini Human 

3 rights and Security Accountability Act’’ or the ‘‘MAHSA 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON IRAN’S SUPREME 

6 LEADER’S OFFICE, ITS APPOINTEES, AND ANY 

7 AFFILIATED PERSONS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The Supreme Leader is an institution of the 

10 Islamic Republic of Iran. 

11 (2) The Supreme Leader holds ultimate author12 ity over Iran’s judiciary and security apparatus, in13 cluding the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, 

14 law enforcement forces under the Interior Ministry, 

15 the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and 

16 the Basij, a nationwide volunteer paramilitary group 

17 subordinate to the IRGC, all of which have engaged 

18 in human rights abuses in Iran. Additionally the 

19 IRGC, a United States designated Foreign Terrorist 

20 Organization, which reports to the Supreme Leader, 

21 continues to perpetrate terrorism around the globe, 

22 including attempts to kill and kidnap American citi23 zens on United States soil. 

24 (3) The Supreme Leader appoints the head of 

25 Iran’s judiciary. International observers continue to 

26 criticize the lack of independence of Iran’s judicial 


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1 system and maintained that trials disregarded inter2 national standards of fairness. 

3 (4) The revolutionary courts, created by Iran’s 

4 former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, within 

5 Iran’s judiciary, are chiefly responsible for hearing 

6 cases of political offenses, operate in parallel to 

7 Iran’s criminal justice system and routinely hold 

8 grossly unfair trials without due process, handing 

9 down predetermined verdicts and rubberstamping 

10 executions for political purpose. 

11 (5) The Iranian security and law enforcement 

12 forces engage in serious human rights abuse at the 

13 behest of the Supreme Leader. 

14 (6) Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi, sits at the 

15 helm of the most sanctioned cabinet in Iranian his16 tory which includes internationally sanctioned rights 

17 violators. Raisi has supported the recent crackdown 

18 on protestors and is rights violator himself, having 

19 served on a ‘‘death commission’’ in 1988 that led to 

20 the execution of several thousand political prisoners 

21 in Iran. He most recently served as the head of 

22 Iran’s judiciary, a position appointed by Iran’s cur23 rent Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and may likely 

24 be a potential candidate to replace Khamenei as 

25 Iran’s next Supreme Leader. 


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1 (7) On September 16th, 2022, 22-year-old 

2 woman, Mahsa Amini, died in the detention of the 

3 Morality Police after being beaten and detained for 

4 allegedly transgressing discriminatory dress codes 

5 for women. This tragic incident triggered wide6 spread, pro-women’s rights, pro-democracy protests 

7 across all of Iran’s 31 provinces, calling for the end 

8 to Iran’s theocratic regime. 

9 (8) In the course of the protests, the Iranian 

10 security forces’ violent crackdown includes mass ar11 rests, well documented beating of protestors, throt12 tling of the internet and telecommunications serv13 ices, and shooting protestors with live ammunition. 

14 Five weeks into the protests, Iranian security forces 

15 have reportedly killed hundreds of protestors and 

16 other civilians, including women and children, and 

17 wounded many more. 

18 (9) Iran’s Supreme Leader is the leader of the 

19 ‘‘Axis of Resistance’’, which is a network of 

20 Tehran’s terror proxy and partner militias material 

21 supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps 

22 that targets the United States as well as its allies 

23 and partners. 

24 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con25 gress that— 


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1 (1) the United States shall stand with and sup2 port the people of Iran in their demand for funda3 mental human rights; and 

4 (2) the United States shall continue to hold the 

5 Islamic Republic of Iran, particularly the Supreme 

6 Leader and President, accountable for abuses of 

7 human rights, corruption, and export of terrorism. 

8 (c) IN GENERAL.— 

9 (1) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—Not later 

10 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

11 Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall de12 termine whether the sanctions listed in paragraph 

13 (2) apply with respect to each person and entity de14 scribed in subsection (d), and impose all applicable 

15 such sanctions with respect to each such person and 

16 entity. 

17 (2) SANCTIONS LISTED.—The sanctions listed 

18 in this paragraph are the following: 

19 (A) Sanctions described in section 105(c) 

20 of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Account21 ability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 

22 8514(c)). 

23 (B) Sanctions applicable with respect to a 

24 person pursuant to Executive Order 13553 (50 

25 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property 


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1 of certain persons with respect to serious 

2 human rights abuses by the Government of 

3 Iran). 

4 (C) Sanctions applicable with respect to a 

5 person pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (50 

6 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property 

7 and prohibiting transactions with persons who 

8 commit, threaten to commit, or support ter9 rorism). 

10 (D) Sanctions applicable with respect to a 

11 person pursuant to Executive Order 13818 (re12 lating to blocking the property of persons in13 volved in serious human rights abuse or corrup14 tion). 

15 (E) Sanctions applicable with respect to a 

16 person pursuant to Executive Order 13876 (re17 lating to imposing sanctions with respect to 

18 Iran). 

19 (F) Penalties and visa bans applicable with 

20 respect to a person pursuant to section 7031(c) 

21 of the Department of State, Foreign Oper22 ations, and Related Programs Appropriations 

23 Act, 2021. 

24 (d) PERSONS DESCRIBED.—The persons described in 

25 this subsection are the following: 


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1 (1) The Supreme Leader of Iran and any offi2 cial in the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran. 

3 (2) The President of Iran and any official in 

4 the Office of the President of Iran or the President’s 

5 cabinet, including cabinet ministers and executive 

6 vice presidents. 

7 (3) Any entity, including foundations and eco8 nomic conglomerates, overseen by the Office of the 

9 Supreme Leader of Iran which is complicit in financ10 ing or resourcing of human rights abuses or support 

11 for terrorism. 

12 (4) Any official of any entity owned or con13 trolled by the Supreme Leader of Iran or the Office 

14 of the Supreme Leader of Iran. 

15 (5) Any person determined by the Secretary of 

16 the Treasury, in consultation with or at the rec17 ommendation of the Secretary of State— 

18 (A) to be a person appointed by the Su19 preme Leader of Iran, the Office of the Su20 preme Leader of Iran, the President of Iran, or 

21 the Office of the President of Iran to a position 

22 as a state official of Iran, or as the head of any 

23 entity located in Iran or any entity located out24 side of Iran that is owned or controlled by one 

25 or more entities in Iran; 


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1 (B) to have materially assisted, sponsored, 

2 or provided financial, material, or technological 

3 support for, or goods or services to or in sup4 port of any person whose property and interests 

5 in property are blocked pursuant to this section; 

6 (C) to be owned or controlled by, or to 

7 have acted or purported to act for or on behalf 

8 of, directly or indirectly any person whose prop9 erty and interests in property are blocked pur10 suant to this section; or 

11 (D) to be a member of the board of direc12 tors or a senior executive officer of any person 

13 whose property and interests in property are 

14 blocked pursuant to this section. 

15 (e) CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

17 receiving a request from the chairman and ranking 

18 member of one of the appropriate congressional com19 mittees with respect to whether a person meets the 

20 criteria of a person described in subsection (d)(5), 

21 the President shall— 

22 (A) determine if the person meets such cri23 teria; and 

24 (B) submit a classified or unclassified re25 port to such chairman and ranking member 


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1 with respect to such determination that includes 

2 a statement of whether or not the President im3 posed or intends to impose sanctions with re4 spect to the person pursuant to this section. 

5 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘ap7 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 

8 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

9 the House of Representatives; and 

10 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

11 the Senate. 

Æ 


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