WASHINGTON—Today, House Armed Services Committee Member Rep. Jim Banks (IN-03) introduced the bipartisan MAHSA Act, to sanction Iran’s Supreme Leader and his inner circle. Read the bill text here.
Said Rep. Banks: “Regular Iranians like Mahsa Amini are being murdered and persecuted by the Iranian regime, but the Biden administration is still trying to cozy up to Iran’s senior officials so he can cut an even more disastrous nuclear deal. Even European leaders have done more than the White House to hold Iran accountable for its human rights abuses. This is worse than Obama’s lead-from-behind diplomacy. Two years from now, Congress will be ready to work with a reasonable administration to hold Iran accountable.”
Said the National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI): “NUFDI as a grassroots Iranian-American organization, is proud to support the re-introduction of the MAHSA Act in the 118th Congress. We thank the Members of Congress who have taken this important step today in holding the Islamic Republic regime accountable for its crimes against the Iranian people and supporting their heroic fight for freedom.
We urge all members of Congress, regardless of their political affiliation, to support the MAHSA Act. In doing so, the US can send an unequivocal message to the Islamic Republic saying that the free world is not averting its eyes and standing idly by as this genocidal regime spills the blood of young protestors on the streets.”
Said United Against a Nuclear Iran: “The MAHSA Act provides a critical pillar in holding Iran’s regime accountable for its crimes against the Iranian people and the international community. The supreme leader has evaded U.S. counterterrorism and human rights abuse sanctions for years. This bipartisan legislation will go a long way in ensuring the U.S. government holds him personally responsible.”
Rep. Banks originally introduced the MAHSA Act in October 2022 after the Iranian regime’s murder of 22-year old Mahsa Amini triggered pro-democracy protests around the country.
The bill would require the executive branch to determine for sanctions on Iran’s Supreme Leader, the officials of Supreme Leader’s Office, the Supreme Leader’s appointees, Iran’s president, and entities as well as the economic conglomerates affiliated with the Supreme Leader under authorities of Executive Order 13876, Executive Order 13553, Executive Order 13224, and Executive Order 13818. It would also impose visa bans on corrupt Iranian elites and their immediate family members pursuant to 7031(c) of FY2021 Appropriations. This bill is intended to hold the most malicious elements of Iran’s regime accountable for human rights abuses and conduct of terrorism while avoiding collateral damages on ordinary Iranians.
The MAHSA Act is supported by the NUFDI, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Cosponsors:
Rep. Mike Gallagher (WI-08)
Rep. Mike Waltz (FL-6)
Rep. Claudia Tenney (NY-21)
Rep. Joe Wilson (SC-02)
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (TX-02)
Rep. Maria Salazar (FL-27)
Rep. Rob Wittman (VA-01)
Rep. Randy Weber (TX-14)
Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04)
Rep. Tom McClintock (CA-05)
Rep. Greg Murphy (NC-03)
Rep. Diane Harshbarger (TN-01)
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (WA-05)
Rep. Michael Guest (MS-03)
Rep. Doug Lamborn (CO-05)
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05)
Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-14)
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25)
