Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN-3) recently said the Iranian state has been "murdering and persecuting their own citizens" and has introduced legislation to make the Biden administration acknowledge and take action against alleged human rights abuses.
On Jan. 27, Banks introduced H.R. 589, dubbed the MAHSA Act, to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. This bill's stated purpose is to impose sanctions on the supreme leader of Iran and the president of Iran and their respective offices for alleged human rights abuses and support for terrorism. Banks originally introduced this legislation in October 2022 in the 117th Congress, following the Iranian regime’s murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini that triggered pro-democracy protests around the country.
According to a press release from Bank's office, the bill would require the executive branch to determine sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader, the officials of supreme leader’s office, the supreme leader’s appointees, Iran’s president and any other 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. Banks' intent for this bill is 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.
“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,” Banks said, according to the press release. “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.”
United Against a Nuclear Iran said in a press release that the act "provides a critical pillar in holding Iran's regime accountable" for its crimes.
"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," United Against a Nuclear Iran said.
The National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI) also made a statement in the press release.
"NUFDI as a grassroots Iranian-American organization, is proud to support the re-introduction of the MAHSA Act in the 118th Congress," The National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI) said. "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 U.S. 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."
Banks was first elected in 2016 to represent the 3rd Congressional District of Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to his website. He is a sitting member of the House Armed Services Committee, the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the newly formed House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party.
