[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 374 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 374

Condemning Iranian state-sponsored terrorism and expressing support for 
the Iranian people's desire for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear 
                           republic of Iran.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 10, 2019

 Mr. McClintock (for himself, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. 
 Luetkemeyer, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Hurd of Texas, Mr. Webster of Florida, 
 Mr. Brooks of Alabama, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Budd, 
 Mr. Mooney of West Virginia, Mr. Cook, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Fitzpatrick, 
 Mr. Grothman, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Steube, Ms. Jackson 
    Lee, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. 
 Sensenbrenner, Mr. Stewart, Mrs. Lesko, Mr. Clay, Mr. Riggleman, Mr. 
   Fleischmann, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. 
   McKinley, Mr. Walker, Mr. Norman, Mrs. Hartzler, Mrs. Miller, Mr. 
    Peterson, Mr. Allred, and Mr. Burgess) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Condemning Iranian state-sponsored terrorism and expressing support for 
the Iranian people's desire for a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear 
                           republic of Iran.

Whereas, on July 2, 2018, the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office announced it 
        had foiled a terrorist plot against the ``Free Iran 2018 - the 
        Alternative'' gathering held on June 30, 2018, in support of the Iranian 
        people's struggle for freedom;
Whereas several prominent bipartisan former United States Government officials, 
        several retired United States generals, congressional staff, and 
        thousands of American citizens participated in that gathering;
Whereas Assadollah Assadi, a senior Iranian diplomat based in the Iranian 
        embassy in Vienna, Austria, was arrested in Germany in connection with 
        the planned terror plot in Paris;
Whereas the Iranian diplomat has been charged in Belgium in connection with the 
        Paris terror plot and in Germany with ``activity as a foreign agent and 
        conspiracy to commit murder'';
Whereas the Free Iran gathering had commenced to show support for the Iranian 
        opposition leader Mrs. Maryam Rajavi's 10-point plan for the future of 
        Iran, which calls for the universal right to vote, free elections, and a 
        market economy, and advocates gender, religious, and ethnic equality, a 
        foreign policy based on peaceful coexistence, and a non-nuclear Iran;
Whereas, on July 10, 2018, a senior Department of State official said, ``Iran 
        uses embassies as cover to plot terrorist attacks'', and that ``The most 
        recent example is the plot that the Belgians foiled, and we had an 
        Iranian diplomat out of the Austrian embassy as part of the plot to bomb 
        a meeting of Iranian opposition leaders in Paris'';
Whereas, in January 2019, the European Union (EU) has included the Internal 
        Security Division of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security 
        (MOIS), and two of its officials on the EU terror list in connection 
        with the Paris bomb plot;
Whereas the United States Government arrested two Iranian nationals in August 
        2018 who had acted on behalf of the MOIS to conduct covert surveillance 
        in the United States against officials of the National Council of 
        Resistance of Iran for a target package, which, according to the 
        Department of Justice Federal complaint, may include ``apprehension, 
        recruitment, cyber exploitation, or capture/kill operations'';
Whereas according to the Select Iran-Sponsored Operational Activity in Europe, 
        released by the Department of State on July 5, 2018, ``Two Iranian 
        operatives were arrested on charges of terrorism by Albanian 
        authorities,'' for a bomb plot against the March 2018 New Year gathering 
        of thousands of Iranian opposition members in Tirana;
Whereas, in December 2018, the Government of Albania expelled Iran's Ambassador, 
        Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, and MOIS station chief in Albania, Mostafa 
        Roudaki, for planning terrorist activities against Iranian dissidents 
        and members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK);
Whereas the expulsion of the Iranian Ambassador by the Government of Albania is 
        a positive and important step, which sends the right message that no 
        Iranian embassies should be used for plotting terror and conducting 
        spying activities against dissidents;
Whereas Iran's malign activities in the Balkans, specifically its presence and 
        activities in Albania, pose a serious threat to United States national 
        security interests;
Whereas the Department of State official has urged ``all nations to be vigilant 
        about Iran using embassies as diplomatic cover to plot terrorist 
        attacks'';
Whereas senior Iranian Government, military, judicial, and security officials 
        have for decades ordered or committed egregious human rights violations 
        and acts of terror;
Whereas the Iranian people have been deprived of their fundamental freedoms for 
        which reason they rejected monarchic dictatorship and are opposing 
        religious tyranny; and
Whereas in the 115th Congress, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4744 
        calling on the United States to ``condemn Iranian human rights abuses 
        against dissidents, including the massacre in 1988 and the suppression 
        of political demonstrations in 1999, 2009, and 2017, and pressure the 
        Government of Iran to provide family members detailed information that 
        they were denied about the final resting places of any missing victims 
        of such abuses'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns past and present Iranian state-sponsored 
        terrorist attacks against United States citizens and officials, 
        as well as Iranian dissidents, including the Iranian regime's 
        terror plot against the ``Free Iran 2018 - the Alternative'' 
        gathering in Paris;
            (2) calls on relevant United States Government agencies to 
        work with European allies, including those in the Balkans, 
        where Iran has expanded its presence, to hold Iran accountable 
        for breaching diplomatic privileges, and to call on nations to 
        prevent the malign activities of the Iranian regime's 
        diplomatic missions, with the goal of closing them down, 
        including the Iranian embassy in Albania;
            (3) stands with the people of Iran who are continuing to 
        hold legitimate and peaceful protests against an oppressive and 
        corrupt regime; and
            (4) recognizes the rights of the Iranian people and their 
        struggle to establish a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear 
        republic of Iran.
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