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Congresswoman Tenney Leads Bicameral Letter Calling for Human Rights Sanctions on Iranian Majles Members

March 1, 2023

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) led a bipartisan, bicameral letter today urging the Biden administration to impose stricter sanctions against Iranian Majles members in response to their ongoing support of human rights abuses being perpetrated against peaceful protestors.

Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Representative Katie Porter (D-CA) co-led the letter with Tenney. Other cosigners of this letter include Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS), Sen John Hoeven (R-ND), Sen Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Sen James Lankford (R-OK), Sen Rick Scott (R-FL), Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Rep Wiley Nickel (D-NC), Rep Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Rep Don Bacon (R-NE), Rep Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Rep Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Rep Ted Lieu (D-CA), Rep Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), Rep Brad Schneider (D-IL), Rep Mike Levin (D-CA), Rep Michelle Steel (R-CA), Rep Nancy Mace (R-SC), Rep Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Rep Tom McClintock (R-CA).

In September 2022, Mahsa Amini was arrested by the country's morality police for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress codes, and she later died while in custody. Following her death, women and men across Iran took to the streets to peacefully protest the regime’s egregious human rights abuses. Iranians have protested in more than 130 cities against the regime. Since last September, at least 519 protesters have been killed by the regime, and more than 19,000 individuals have been arrested. Four of those arrested have been executed, and at least 109 more Iranians have been sentenced to death in grossly unfair trials or face charges that usually result in capital punishment. 

The letter urges the Biden administration to impose sanctions against 227 Iranian Majles (Parliament) members who have called for "no leniency" against the protestors. In addition, the letter encourages sanctions to be applied to the family members of these Majles members, many whom still seek to study, work, or acquire property in the United States. The letter also reiterates our continued support for the brave Iranian protestors and condemns the autocratic regime for its human rights abuses and violations of international law.

In part, the lawmakers stressed that “innocent lives hang in the balance, and there is an urgent need to deter the perpetrators of these murders from committing further violence. We strongly encourage the Departments of State and the Treasury to levy further sanctions against Iranian officials and institutions involved in this brutal campaign of intimidation and extermination.”

The letter also emphasizes that “the Islamic Republic of Iran lacks democratic legitimacy, and the members of its parliament are not true democratic representatives of the Iranian people.”

Following the release of the letter, Michael Makovsky, Ph.D., JINSA President & CEO, released the statement below:

“JINSA applauds the bipartisan and bicameral letter to the Biden Administration urging sanctions on the 227 Majles members who called for harsher treatment of Iranian protesters. These parliamentarians may represent the cruelty of this regime, but they certainly do not represent the millions of Iranian women and men yearning for freedom,” said President and CEO Michael Makovsky.”

View the full text of this letter here.

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