The Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC) held a press conference Tuesday on a resolution on Iran introduced to the House of Representatives.
H.Res. 118, which has 225 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, shows “support for the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran” and condemns the “violations of human rights and state-sponsored terrorism by the Iranian Government”.
It doesn’t mention the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) but does imply that US policy on Iran has for too long been focused almost exclusively on the nuclear program and should broaden its scope to include human rights and terrorism, as well as imposing sanctions for violations.
The resolution mentions the two nationwide protests in Iran in the past three years, which included sections of the mullahs’ base, highlighting how this was a rejection of the ruling system as a whole, with no distinction between the hardliner and moderate factions that are heavily promoted by Iran apologists.
It also says that the Iranian people are in line with the “ten-point plan” by opposition President Maryam Rajavi, which supports “the universal right to vote, free elections, and a market economy,” as well as advocating “gender, religious, and ethnic equality, a foreign policy based on peaceful coexistence, and a non-nuclear Iran”.
The resolution cites two prior House resolutions; one about the human rights violations seen at recent protests and one about the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, which is one of the worst crimes against humanity since the Second World War. It further calls attention to the fact that the government is so desperate to destroy its opposition that it will even conduct terrorist activities in other countries, including the US and France. The 2018 Paris plot, which targeted a Free Iran rally, was recently the subject of a court trial that resulted in Iranian diplomat Assahdollah Assadi getting sentenced to 20 years in prison.
H.Res. 118 states that the US has not avoided these plots. In 2018, two Iranian nationals were arrested for spying on opposition activists with the intent of staging attacks, while the resolution also condemns “past and present Iranian state-sponsored terrorist attacks against United States citizens and officials”.
It urged the US to work with its allies to “hold Iran accountable [and] prevent the malign activities of the Iranian diplomatic missions, with the goal of closing them down”, as well as increasing pressure on Iran over domestic human rights abuses.
The resolution said that the US House of Representatives “stands with the people of Iran who are continuing to hold legitimate and peaceful protests against an oppressive and corrupt regime; and recognizes the rights of the Iranian people and their struggle to establish a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran”.
