IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 744 
Condemning the Government of Iran’s state-sponsored persecution of its 
Baha’i minority and its continued violation of the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 25, 2021 
Mr. DEUTCH (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. WILSON of South 
Carolina, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mrs. WAG-
NER, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning the Government of Iran’s state-sponsored perse-
cution of its Baha’i minority and its continued violation 
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 
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; 
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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 United Nations General Assembly Resolution on 
the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of 
Iran (A/RES/75/191), dated December 16, 2020, ex-
presses serious concerns about— 
(1) ‘‘ongoing severe limitations and increasing re-
strictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, 
religion or belief’’; 
(2) ‘‘restrictions on the establishment of places of 
worship’’; 
(3) ‘‘undue restrictions on burials carried out in ac-
cordance with religious tenets’’; 
(4) ‘‘attacks against places of worship and burial’’; 
and 
(5) ‘‘other human rights violations, including but not 
limited to harassment, intimidation, persecution, arbi-
trary arrests and detention, and incitement to hatred 
that leads to violence against persons belonging to recog-
nized and unrecognized religious minorities’’; 
Whereas, on January 29, 2020, the United States Commis-
sion on International Religious Freedom ‘‘condemned an 
Iranian court order allowing authorities to confiscate 
properties owned by Baha’is in the village of Ivel in 
Mazandaran Province’’; 
Whereas in the 2020 Annual Report of the United States 
Commission on International Religious Freedom issued in 
April 2021, it is reported that the Government of Iran— 
(1) ‘‘continued to arrest Baha’is and impose lengthy 
prison sentences on them. Between 50 and 100 Baha’is 
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were reported to be in prisons in Iran during 2020, de-
spite the widespread prevalence of COVID–19’’; and 
(2) ‘‘continued its systematic repression of Baha’is, 
including a mass raid on about 50 Baha’i houses in late 
November. A court official in Shiraz threatened to ‘up-
root’ Baha’is in the city in late spring’’; 
Whereas the Iran section of the Department of State’s 2020 
Report on International Religious Freedom issued in May 
2021 provides, in part— 
(1) ‘‘NGOs reported that as of October 27 [2020], 
there were 38 Baha’is – 16 men and 22 women – in pris-
on.’’; 
(2) ‘‘The law bars Baha’is from founding or oper-
ating their own educational institutions. A Ministry of 
Science, Research, and Technology order requires univer-
sities to exclude Baha’is from access to higher education, 
or to expel them if their religious affiliation becomes 
known.’’; 
(3) ‘‘On November 1 [2020], Iran International and 
the international human rights news agency HRANA re-
ported that authorities barred from higher education at 
least 17 Baha’is who participated in the year’s nation-
wide university entrance examinations, despite their being 
academically qualified.’’; 
(4) ‘‘In May [2020], parliament passed the legisla-
tion on ‘misguided sects’ in the form of amendments to 
articles 499 and 500 of the Islamic Penal Code. The leg-
islation stated that those found guilty of ‘deviant psycho-
logical manipulation’ or ‘propaganda contrary to Islam’ 
could be labeled as members of a ‘sect’ and punished with 
imprisonment, flogging, fines, or the death penalty. A 
human rights lawyer living in Europe stated, ‘The law 
should protect citizens, including Christian converts and 
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Baha’is, against the government, but in Iran the law has 
become a tool to justify the government’s violent treat-
ment of converts and other unrecognized minorities.’ ’’; 
and 
(5) ‘‘The government bars Baha’is from all govern-
ment employment and forbids Baha’i participation in the 
governmental social pension system. Baha’is may not re-
ceive compensation for injury or crimes committed 
against them and may not inherit property. A religious 
fatwa from the Supreme Leader encourages citizens to 
avoid all dealings with Baha’is.’’; 
Whereas, on April 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of State Of-
fice of Religious Freedom tweeted, ‘‘We are concerned by 
amendments to Articles 499 & 500 of Iran’s penal code, 
which may lead to more prosecutions of individuals for 
exercising their freedoms of religion, belief & expression. 
We call on Iran to uphold these human rights for all, in-
cluding religious minorities.’’; 
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 March 10, 2021, the Baha’i International Com-
munity condemned ‘‘an official Iranian directive which in-
structs local authorities in the city of Sari, in the north-
ern province of Mazandaran, to ‘conduct strict controls’ 
on the Baha’is in the city by ‘monitoring their oper-
ations’, and introduce measures to‘identify Baha’i stu-
dents’ in order to ‘bring them into Islam’ ’’; 
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(B) to end its state-sponsored campaign of 
hate propaganda against the Baha’is; and 
(C) to reverse state-imposed policies deny-
ing Baha’is and members of other religious mi-
norities 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 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 the Secretary of 
State to utilize available authorities to impose sanc-
tions on officials of the Government of Iran and 
other individuals directly responsible for serious 
human rights abuses, including abuses against the 
Baha’i community of Iran. 
Æ 
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