H. Res. 744 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
December 1, 2022. 
Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 
1996, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 
2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020, Congress declared that it 
deplored the religious persecution by the Government of 
Iran of the Baha’i community and would hold the Gov-
ernment 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 exe-
cuted more than 200 Baha’i leaders, and more than 
10,000 have been dismissed from government and univer-
sity jobs; 
Whereas the Baha’i International Community documented a 
more than 50-percent increase in hate propaganda di-
rected against the Baha’is in the 12-month period ending 
in August 2020, compared to prior years, with more than 
9,500 such articles, videos, or web pages appearing in 
Iranian government-controlled or government-sponsored 
media; 
Whereas, on December 16, 2021, the United Nations General 
Assembly adopted a resolution (A/C.3/76/L.28) criticizing 
Iran for human rights abuses and calling on Iran to 
carry out wide-ranging reforms, including—
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(1) ‘‘ceasing use of the death penalty and com-
muting the sentences for child offenders on death row’’; 
(2) ‘‘ensuring that no one is subjected to torture or 
other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment’’; 
(3) ‘‘ceasing the widespread and systematic use of 
arbitrary arrests and detention’’; 
(4) ‘‘releasing persons detained for the exercise of 
their human rights and fundamental freedoms’’; 
(5) ‘‘improving conditions inside prisons’’; 
(6) ‘‘eliminating discrimination against women and 
girls’’; and 
(7) ‘‘eliminating discrimination against ethnic, lin-
guistic, and other minorities’’; 
Whereas in the 2022 Annual Report of the United States 
Commission on International Religious Freedom issued in 
April 2022, it is reported that the Government of Iran— 
(1) ‘‘arrested scores of Baha’is across Iran, many of 
whom were held incommunicado or taken to undisclosed 
locations’’; 
(2) ‘‘sent Ministry of Intelligence agents to search 
the home of a Baha’i citizen and confiscated her belong-
ings’’; 
(3) ‘‘continued to deny university education to Ba-
ha’is on account of their faith’’; 
(4) ‘‘closed six Baha’i businesses’’; 
(5) ‘‘demolished the homes of three Baha’is without 
warning’’; 
(6) ‘‘announced the auction of thirteen Baha’i 
farms’’; and 
(7) ‘‘continued to deny Baha’is the right to bury 
their deceased in empty plots at the Golestan Javid ceme-
tery outside Tehran which the community has used for 
decades. Instead, Baha’is are being forced to use the
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Khaveran mass grave site where victims of the 1988 pris-
on massacres are buried’’; 
Whereas the Iran section of the Department of State’s 2021 
Report on International Religious Freedom issued in 
June 2022 provides, in part— 
(1) ‘‘Security forces in Shiraz and Mazandaran 
Province conducted multiple arrests of Baha’is in their 
homes or workplaces in the last week of September with-
out providing reasons or charges.’’; 
(2) ‘‘Authorities continued to confiscate Baha’i prop-
erties as part of an ongoing state-led campaign of eco-
nomic persecution against Baha’is. Authorities issued an 
order in April denying Baha’is permission to bury their 
dead in empty plots at the Tehran-area cemetery des-
ignated for Baha’is, forcing them to bury them at a mass 
grave site.’’; 
(3) ‘‘Authorities reportedly continued to deny the 
Baha’i, Sabean-Mandaean, and Yarsani religious commu-
nities, as well as members of other unrecognized religious 
minority groups, access to education and government em-
ployment unless they declared themselves as belonging to 
one of the country’s recognized religions on their applica-
tion forms.’’; and 
(4) ‘‘Government officials continued to disseminate 
anti-Baha’i and antisemitic messages using traditional 
and social media.’’; 
Whereas, on July 4, 2022, the Baha’i International Commu-
nity noted ‘‘The Iranian government’s systematic cam-
paign to persecute the Baha’i religious minority acceler-
ated again this past week with the arrest, court hearing 
or imprisonment of at least 18 more Baha’i citizens 
across the country, bringing the June total to 44 people.
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Hundreds of others, meanwhile, also await summonses to 
court or to prison.’’; 
Whereas, on July 21, 2022, the Baha’i International Commu-
nity announced ‘‘More than 20 Baha’is in Shiraz, 
Tehran, Yazd and Bojnourd, have been arrested, jailed or 
subjected to home searches and business closures since 
the beginning of July. Last month 44 Baha’is were ar-
rested, arraigned or imprisoned, suggesting an escalating 
crisis in the Iranian government’s systematic campaign 
against the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minor-
ity. . .’’; 
Whereas Iran is a member of the United Nations and a sig-
natory to both the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Polit-
ical Rights, among other international human rights trea-
ties, without reservation; 
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 in-
dividuals who are ‘‘responsible for or complicit in, or re-
sponsible 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—
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(1) condemns the Government of Iran’s state-spon-
sored persecution of its Baha’i minority and its contin-
ued violation of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil 
and Political Rights (ICCPR); 
(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 
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 imme-
diately condemn the Government of Iran’s continued vio-
lation of human rights, and demand the immediate re-
lease 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 of-
ficials of the Government of Iran and other individuals