•HRES 1457 EH 
Whereas the Government of Iran, Iranian riot police, mem-
bers of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Basij mili-
tias engaged in a brutal crackdown on the Iranian people 
in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election of 
June 12, 2009, killing, injuring, or imprisoning many 
Iranians, stifling freedom of speech, press, and assembly 
and violating fundamental human rights; 
Whereas, on June 19, 2009, the House of Representatives 
overwhelmingly adopted H. Res. 560 which ‘‘(1) ex-
presses its support for all Iranian citizens who embrace 
the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and 
rule of law; (2) condemns the ongoing violence against 
demonstrators by the Government of Iran and pro-gov-
ernment militias, as well as the ongoing government sup-
pression 
of 
independent 
electronic 
communication 
through interference with the Internet and cellphones; 
and (3) affirms the universality of individual rights and 
the importance of democratic and fair elections’’; 
Whereas, on June 23, 2009, President Barack Obama de-
nounced the Government of Iran’s crackdown on the Ira-
nian people, stating that ‘‘The United States and the 
international community have been appalled and outraged 
by the threats, the beatings and imprisonments of the 
last few days’’, that ‘‘I strongly condemn these unjust ac-
tions, and I join with the American people in mourning 
each and every innocent life that is lost’’, and that the 
United States must ‘‘bear witness to the courage and dig-
nity of the Iranian people, and to a remarkable opening 
within Iranian society’’; 
Whereas, on December 27, 2009, the Shiite Muslim holiday 
of Ashura was observed and at least eight Iranian civil-
•HRES 1457 EH 
ians were killed and hundreds arrested in confrontations 
with the Iranian authorities; 
Whereas the Government of Iran is violating its international 
and constitutional obligations to respect the human 
rights and fundamental freedoms of its citizens by— 
(1) using arbitrary or unlawful killings, beatings, 
rape, torture, and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treat-
ment or punishment, including flogging and amputations; 
(2) carrying out an increasingly high rate of execu-
tions in the absence of internationally recognized safe-
guards, including public executions and executions of ju-
venile offenders; 
(3) using stoning as a method of execution and 
maintaining a high number of persons in prison who con-
tinue to face sentences of execution by stoning; 
(4) carrying out arrests, violent repression, and sen-
tencing of women exercising their right to peaceful as-
sembly, a campaign of intimidation against women de-
fenders of human rights, and continuing discrimination 
against women and girls; 
(5) permitting or carrying out increasing discrimina-
tion and other human rights violations against persons 
belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic, or other minority 
communities; 
(6) imposing ongoing, systematic, and serious re-
strictions of freedom of peaceful assembly and association 
and freedom of opinion and expression, including the con-
tinuing closures of media outlets, arrests of journalists, 
the censorship of expression and of the press in news-
papers and online forums such as blogs and websites, as 
well as blockage or disruption of Internet-based commu-
nications and of mobile phone and text messaging net-
works; and
•HRES 1457 EH 
(7) imposing severe limitations and restrictions on 
freedom of religion and belief by carrying out arbitrary 
arrests, indefinite detentions, and lengthy jail sentences 
for those exercising their rights to freedom of religion or 
belief and by proposing a mandatory death sentence for 
apostasy, the abandoning of one’s faith; 
Whereas according to the Department of State’s Country Re-
ports on Human Rights Practices for 2009, Iran’s ‘‘poor 
human rights record degenerated during the year * * * 
the government severely limited citizens’ right to change 
their government peacefully through free and fair elec-
tions * * * authorities held political prisoners and inten-
sified a crackdown against women’s rights reformers, eth-
nic minority rights activists, student activists, and reli-
gious minorities’’; 
Whereas hundreds of political prisoners remain imprisoned by 
the Government of Iran; 
Whereas Ahmad Jannati, who heads the Government of 
Iran’s powerful Guardian Council, has called for the exe-
cution of more dissidents and protestors, and a senior of-
ficial of the Iranian ‘‘judiciary’’ has stated that the Gov-
ernment of Iran will soon execute further dissidents; 
Whereas thousands of Iranian citizens have continued to 
peacefully and courageously assemble and protest against 
the Government of Iran’s denial of human rights and de-
mocracy to the people of Iran; 
Whereas article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights recognizes that ‘‘(1) Everyone has the right to 
take part in the government of his country, directly or 
through freely chosen representatives; (2) Everyone has 
the right of equal access to public service in his country;
•HRES 1457 EH 
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the au-
thority of government; this will shall be expressed in peri-
odic and genuine elections which shall be by universal 
and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by 
equivalent free voting procedures’’; 
Whereas the United States supports the right of the citizens 
of Iran to freedom and democratic governance, including 
the right to select their political leaders in free, demo-
cratic, and independent elections; 
Whereas the Government of Iran is pursuing a nuclear weap-
ons capability which, if obtained, would usher in a dan-
gerous new era of instability in the Gulf and the Middle 
East, and allow the Government of Iran to act with im-
punity in the face of international pressure to cease its 
dangerous international behavior and its horrific human 
rights abuses; 
Whereas Iran continues to enrich uranium and carry out 
other nuclear activities in violation of United Nations Se-
curity Council Resolutions 1696 (2006), 1737 (2006), 
1747 (2007), 1803 (2008), 1835 (2008), and 1929 
(2010); 
Whereas Iran has failed to cooperate with International 
Atomic Energy Agency inspectors looking into the pos-
sible military nature of the Iranian nuclear program, in-
cluding by denying inspectors access to facilities, people, 
and documents; and 
Whereas according to the Department of State’s Country Re-
ports on Terrorism, Iran remains ‘‘the most active state 
sponsor of terrorism’’, continues to provide arms, financ-
ing, training, and other support to Hamas, Hezbollah, 
and other groups designated by the United States as for-
•HRES 1457 EH 
eign terrorist organizations, in addition to providing le-
thal support to violent militants in Iraq and Afghanistan: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reaffirms its support for all Iranian citizens who 
courageously struggle for freedom, human rights, civil 
liberties, and the protection of the rule of law; 
(2) condemns the ongoing violence and human 
rights abuses against the people of Iran by the Govern-
ment of Iran and pro-government militias, as well as the 
ongoing government suppression of independent elec-
tronic communication through interference with the 
Internet and cell phones; 
(3) condemns the Government of Iran’s continued 
pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability and unconven-
tional weapons and ballistic missile capabilities, and its 
use of its nuclear program to distract attention from its 
horrific abuses of the human rights of the Iranian peo-
ple; 
(4) urges the immediate release of all political pris-
oners detained by the Government of Iran and the im-
mediate end of all harassment and violence against the 
people of Iran by the Government of Iran and pro-gov-
ernment militias; 
(5) reaffirms the universality of individual human 
and political rights; and