H. Res. 220 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
September 21, 2016. 
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-
dom violations. The government views Baha’is, who num-
ber at least 300,000, as ‘heretics’ and consequently they 
face repression on the grounds of apostasy.’’; 
Whereas the United States Commission on International Reli-
gious Freedom 2014 Report stated that ‘‘[s]ince 1979, 
authorities have killed or executed more than 200 Baha’i 
leaders, and more than 10,000 have been dismissed from 
government and university jobs’’ and ‘‘[m]ore than 700 
Baha’is have been arbitrarily arrested since 2005’’; 
Whereas the Department of State 2013 International Reli-
gious Freedom Report stated that the Government of 
Iran ‘‘prohibits Baha’is from teaching and practicing
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their faith and subjects them to many forms of discrimi-
nation not faced by members of other religious groups’’ 
and ‘‘since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, formally denies 
Baha’i students access to higher education’’; 
Whereas the Department of State 2013 International Reli-
gious Freedom Report stated, ‘‘The government requires 
Baha’is to register with the police,’’ and ‘‘The govern-
ment raided Baha’i homes and businesses and confiscated 
large amounts of private and commercial property, as 
well as religious materials.’’; 
Whereas the Department of State 2013 International Reli-
gious Freedom Report stated, ‘‘Baha’is are regularly de-
nied compensation for injury or criminal victimization 
and the right to inherit property.’’; 
Whereas, on August 27, 2014, the United Nations Special 
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Is-
lamic Republic of Iran issued a report (A/69/356), which 
stated, ‘‘The human rights situation in the Islamic Re-
public of Iran remains of concern. Numerous issues 
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
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‘‘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-
tute for Higher Education (BIHE) and arrested and de-
tained several educators associated with BIHE, and 8 
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
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number of anti-Baha’i articles rose to approximately 401 
per month—18 times the previous level; 
Whereas there are currently 60 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-spon-
sored persecution of its Baha’i minority and its contin-
ued violation of the International Covenants on Human 
Rights; 
(2) calls on the Government of Iran to immediately 
release the 7 imprisoned Baha’i leaders, the 8 impris-
oned Baha’i educators, and all other prisoners held sole-
ly on account of their religion; 
(3) calls on the President and Secretary of State, 
in cooperation with responsible nations, to immediately 
condemn the Government of Iran’s continued violation of
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human rights and demand the immediate release of pris-
oners held solely on account of their religion; and 
(4) urges the President and Secretary of State to 
utilize available authorities, including the Comprehensive 
Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 
2010, to impose sanctions on officials of the Government 
of Iran and other individuals directly responsible for se-
rious human rights abuses, including abuses against the 
Baha’i community of Iran. 
Attest: 
Clerk.