IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 220 
Condemning the Government of Iran’s state-sponsored persecution of its 
Baha’i minority and its continued violation of the International Cov-
enants on Human Rights. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 23, 2015 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DOLD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Mr. CHABOT, and Mr. ENGEL) submitted the following resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning the Government of Iran’s state-sponsored perse-
cution of its Baha’i minority and its continued violation 
of the International Covenants on Human Rights. 
Whereas, in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 
1996, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013, 
Congress declared that it deplored the religious persecu-
tion 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 the United States Commission on International Reli-
gious Freedom 2014 Report stated, ‘‘The Baha’i commu-
nity, the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran, 
long has been subject to particularly severe religious free-
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flagged by the General Assembly, the United Nations 
human rights mechanisms and the Secretary-General per-
sist, and in some cases appear to have worsened, some 
recent overtures made by the Administration and the par-
liament notwithstanding.’’; 
Whereas, on December 18, 2014, the United Nations General 
Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/69/190), which 
‘‘[e]xpresse[d] deep concern’’ over ‘‘[c]ontinued discrimi-
nation, persecution and human rights violations against 
persons belonging to unrecognized religious minorities, 
particularly members of the Baha’i [F]aith . . . and the 
effective criminalization of membership in the Baha’i 
[F]aith,’’ and called upon the Government of Iran to 
‘‘emancipate the Baha’i community . . . and to accord 
all Baha’is, including those imprisoned because of their 
beliefs, the due process of law and the rights that they 
are constitutionally guaranteed’’; 
Whereas, since May of 2008, the Government of Iran has im-
prisoned the seven members of the former ad hoc leader-
ship group of the Baha’i community in Iran, known as 
the Yaran-i-Iran, or ‘‘friends of Iran’’—Mrs. Fariba 
Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, 
Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash 
Sabet, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm—and these individuals 
are serving 20-year prison terms, the longest sentences 
given to any current prisoner of conscience in Iran, on 
charges including ‘‘spying for Israel, insulting religious 
sanctities, propaganda against the regime and spreading 
corruption on earth’’; 
Whereas, beginning in May 2011, officials of the Government 
of Iran in 4 cities conducted sweeping raids on the homes 
of dozens of individuals associated with the Baha’i Insti-
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tute for Higher Education (BIHE) and arrested and de-
tained several educators associated with BIHE, and 12 
BIHE educators are now serving 4- or 5-year prison 
terms; 
Whereas scores of Baha’i cemeteries have been attacked, and, 
in April 2014, Revolutionary Guards began excavating a 
Baha’i cemetery in Shiraz, which is the site of 950 
graves; 
Whereas the Baha’i International Community reported that 
there has been a recent surge in anti-Baha’i hate propa-
ganda in Iranian state-sponsored media outlets, noting 
that, in 2010 and 2011, approximately 22 anti-Baha’i ar-
ticles were appearing every month, and, in 2014, the 
number of anti-Baha’i articles rose to approximately 401 
per month—18 times the previous level; 
Whereas there are currently 100 Baha’is in prison in Iran; 
Whereas the Government of Iran is party to the International 
Covenants on Human Rights and is in violation of its ob-
ligations under the Covenants; and 
Whereas the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, 
and Divestment Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–195) au-
thorizes the President and the Secretary of State to im-
pose sanctions on individuals ‘‘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’’: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns the Government of Iran’s state- 
sponsored persecution of its Baha’i minority and its 
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continued violation of the International Covenants 
on Human Rights; 
(2) calls on the Government of Iran to imme-
diately release the 7 imprisoned Baha’i leaders, the 
12 imprisoned Baha’i educators, and all other pris-
oners held solely on account of their religion; 
(3) calls on the President and Secretary of 
State, in cooperation with responsible nations, to im-
mediately condemn the Government of Iran’s contin-
ued violation of human rights and demand the im-
mediate release of prisoners held solely on account 
of their religion; and 
(4) urges the President and Secretary of State 
to utilize available authorities, including the Com-
prehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Di-
vestment Act of 2010, to impose sanctions on offi-
cials of the Government of Iran and other individ-
uals directly responsible for serious human rights 
abuses, including abuses against the Baha’i commu-
nity of Iran. 
Æ 
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