Calling for an end to the violence, unlawful arrests, torture, and ill treatment perpetrated against Iranian citizens, as well as the unconditional release of all political prisoners in Iran.
Whereas the Government of Iran has disregarded the United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for suspension of uranium enrichment, continues to seek a nuclear weapon, is starting to enrich uranium to a 20 percent level, and intends to build 10 additional uranium enrichment facilities;
Whereas the Government of Iran continues to provide weapons and ammunition to terrorists and trains them, while meddling in the political affairs of Iraq;
Whereas in the summer of 2009, an attack was launched on Camp Ashraf, Iraq, the residence of an Iranian opposition movement, killing 11, wounding hundreds, and prompting an international censure;
Whereas the Government of Iran continues to send weapons, ammunition, and deadly explosives to the Taliban in Afghanistan and has been supporting Hamas and Hezbollah as well as thwarting the peace process between Palestine and Israel;
Whereas the Government of Iran has flouted its international obligations with regards to respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of its citizens through torture, stoning, a rising number of executions, including the hanging of minors, a violent crackdown, and discrimination against women and ethnic and religious minorities;
Whereas over the past year, millions of Iranians have taken to the streets to participate in anti-government demonstrations in order to voice their demand for democracy in Iran and to promote change not through foreign military intervention, but through reliance on the opposition which seeks a democratic, secular, and nuclear-free Iran;
Whereas the Government of Iran has resorted to a brutal campaign of widespread arrests, executions, and repression to crush the Iranian people’s uprising, murdering protestors such as Neda Agha Soltan in the streets and through torture;
Whereas the Government of Iran has exerted pressure on Western countries to impose restrictions on Iranian refugees and dissidents;
Whereas the Government of Iran has used the terrorist designation of the Iranian opposition as a pretext to suppress opponents inside Iran, staging show trials whereby a number of dissidents have been sentenced to death on charges of `waging war against God’ because of their affiliation with the opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran; and
Whereas the British Government in June 2008, and the 27-member European Union in January 2009, removed the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran from their lists of terrorist organizations: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
That the House of Representatives –
(1) calls for an end to the violence, unlawful arrests, torture, and ill treatment perpetrated against Iranian citizens, as well as the unconditional release of all political prisoners in Iran;
(2) calls upon the Government of the United States, the President, and the Secretary of State to condemn human rights violations in Iran and support the Iranian people’s endeavors towards the institution of democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law;
(3) calls for an end to a selective approach to Iranian opponents who struggle for democracy and human rights, and invites the Secretary of State, in coalition with British and European allies, to remove the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran from the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, thereby denying the regime the pretext to crack down on dissidents inside Iran and the justification to murder, forcibly displace, and impose a blockade on opposition members based in Camp Ashraf, Iraq;
(4) calls for the adoption of measures by the President to impose sanctions while welcoming the United States Government’s efforts to create an international consensus to deal with Iran’s nuclear program, including the full range of sanctions otherwise applicable to Iran, on any individual or entity that is an agent, alias, front, instrumentality, representative, official, or affiliate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), or is an individual serving as a representative of IRGC, or on any person that has conducted any commercial transaction or financial transaction with such entities; and
(5) calls on the President to persuade United States allies and other countries to enact appropriate measures aimed at depriving Iranian banks and financial institutions involved in nuclear activities and backing of terrorist groups from access to the international monetary system.
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