WASHINGTON — Today, the House overwhelmingly passed Congressman Jim Banks’ legislation, the MAHSA Act, to sanction Iran’s Supreme Leader and his inner circle for human rights abuses and support for terrorism.
Read the bill text here.
“Days before the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s tragic murder and a week after the Iranian regime arrested her uncle, we have sent a clear message of support to the many victims of the Iranian regime’s repression and to those leaders in Washington who refuse to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its crimes,” said Said Congressman Banks. “The U.S. House is unified around the need to sanction Iran for its egregious human rights violations and its support for terrorism. I call on the Senate to immediately take up and pass Senator Rubio and Senator Padilla’s companion legislation and force President Biden to punish the murderers of Mahsa Amini.”
“As the people of Iran continue their movement for freedom and democracy on the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s murder, the MAHSA Act is an important step in correcting the record of the Islamic Republic regime in Iran,” said the National Union for Democracy in Iran. “It is not a partner worthy of engagement, but a brutal dictatorship whose opponents– the freedom-loving people of Iran– deserve America’s solidarity.
Holding the regime’s supreme leader and president accountable for their crimes against humanity with the human rights sanctions in the MAHSA Act has been met with overwhelming support from the Iranian-American community and is a needed first step in offering maximum support to the people of Iran in their quest to establish a secular democracy that will secure their fundamental rights and ensure American security.
One year after the brutal state murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, we expect President Biden to support the MAHSA Act without delay and we thank Congressman Banks for his steadfast leadership and solidarity.”
“UANI applauds the House’s overwhelming, bipartisan passage of the MAHSA Act,” said United Against Nuclear Iran. “Now it’s time for the Senate to move this bill as well. In the meantime, the president should not wait to designate Iran’s supreme leader and president for human rights abuses and support for terrorism, as United Against Nuclear Iran has urged for years.
“We thank Congressman Jim Banks and the Act’s 128 bipartisan cosponsors for their leadership and support for the Iranian people.”
Background:
The bill requires the executive branch to impose applicable sanctions on Iran’s Supreme Leader, the Supreme Leader’s Office and his appointees, Iran’s president and cabinet officials, foundations, and other entities affiliated with the Supreme Leader under section 105(c) of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021, and Executive Orders 13876, 13553, 13224, and 13818. This bill is intended to hold the most malicious elements of Iran’s regime accountable for human rights abuses like the death of Mahsa Amini and the regime’s terrorist activity while avoiding collateral damage on ordinary Iranians.
The MAHSA Act has 128 House cosponsors and is supported by the National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI), United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Rep. Banks first introduced the MAHSA Act during the 117th Congress after the tragic murder of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s “Morality Police” triggered pro-democracy and anti-regime protests across the country.
