On Wednesday, March 03, 2021, Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC), in association with its members organizations in 41 states, hosted a virtual meeting to recognize these Congressional leaders and raise public awareness about the Iranian regime’s malign role in and outside Iran.
Introduced on February 11, 2021, One-Hundred-Twelve bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives joined their voices as original cosponsors of H. Res.118, “Expressing support for the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran and condemning violations of human rights and state-sponsored terrorism by the Iranian Government.” The Resolution cites the regime’s brutal crackdowns on dissidents and addresses the regime’s abuse of diplomatic privileges in order to advance its terrorist operations in support of its malign domestic and foreign policy. House Resolution 118 is led by Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA).
On February 4, 2021, a court in Belgium convicted and sentenced an Iranian diplomat to 20 years imprisonment for conducting years of intelligence operations across Europe, recruiting and establishing a network of terror agents in multiple countries and conspiring to commit mass murder.
Assadi and his three accomplices were arrested in June 2018 while in possession of explosives they had planned to detonate at the Free Iran gathering, aiming to terror NCRI President-elect, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi. Court documents showed that the plot was planned and approved by Iranian regime leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. The event was attended by thousands of Iranian Americans as well as former government officials from dozens of countries and from all continents.
This terrorist diplomats’ actions highlight what Iranian Americans have said for years: That the Iranian regime’s terrorist networks and activities are intertwined with its desire to stop uprising within Iran, as well as its perverse diplomatic and political adventures. These networks have unfortunately been developed over decades under the cover of diplomacy or dialogue. Dismantling them will require coming face to face with Iran’s global diplomatic infrastructure.
The bill also highlights Iranian regime’s, arbitrary and brutal suppression of journalists and “ethnic minorities, including Iranian Kurds, Baluchis, and Arabs, as well as religious minorities such as Christians, Jews, Baha’is, Zoroastrians, and even Sunni Muslims.” The measures cites H.R.4744 and H.Res.752, as well as Amnesty International reports 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, 2017, 2018, as well as the use of live ammunition to kill over 1500 people during the November 2019 nationwide protests in Iran.
OIAC concurs with the sense of U.S. Congress and the U.N., calling on the international community to investigate these, “cases through the establishment of an international investigation,” and urging the United States to “be involved in any establishment of an international investigation into the 1988 extrajudicial killings of Iranian dissidents.”
Organization of Iranian American Communities(OIAC) applauds bipartisan members of Congress for recognizing and acting on the hidden threat. Specifically in the 117th Congress, we point to House Resolution H. Res 118 and the leadership demonstrated by its sponsor & original bipartisan cosponsors who have condemned Iranian state-sponsored terrorism and explicitly demand accountability for the so-called diplomats and officials involved in persecution of political opponents at home and multiple terror plots in Europe, including the 2018 Free Iran gathering.
Members of the U.S. Congress from House Democrats and House Republicans addressed about the Iranian regime’s terrorism and situation of human rights in Iran.
Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) Remarks at OIAC Policy Event, March 3, 2021
Rep. Congressman Tom McClintock remarks at OIAC event, March 3, 2021
