WhatistheMAHSAAct?
TheMahsaAminiHumanRightsandSecurityAccountabilityAct,ortheMAHSAAct,isabillnewlyintroducedtothe 118thCongressasH.R.589thatwouldrequirethePresidenttodeterminewhetherhigh-rankingofficialsoftheIslamic RepublicregimeinIranshouldbelistedunderexistingUSsanctionsforhumanrightsabusesandsupportofterrorism.
TheMAHSAActspecificallytargets(1)theSupremeLeaderofIranandanyofficialintheOfficeoftheSupremeLeader ofIran,(2)thePresidentofIranandanyofficialintheOfficeofthePresidentofIran,and(3)anyentitythatisoverseen bytheOfficeoftheSupremeLeaderofIranthatiscomplicitinsupportinghumanrightsabusesorterrorism Thiswould includetheblockingofproperty,visabans,andothermeasurestoholdtheseindividualsandentitiesaccountable.
TheMAHSAActemploystheuseofthreeexistingExecutiveOrdersandtheincludedsanctionsauthorities:Executive Order13224(BushAdministration),ExecutiveOrder13553(ObamaAdministration),ExecutiveOrder13818(Trump Administration) ItalsoemploysexistingsanctionsinCAATSA
WhydoIranian-AmericanssupporttheMAHSAAct?
PollingoftheIranian-Americancommunityhas,forfiveconsecutiveyears,shownthatthecommunity’sforemostpolicy concernisthepromotionofhumanrightsanddemocracyinIran Sincethebeginningofthemostrecentpro-democracy protestsintheaftermathofthestatemurderof22yearoldMahsaAmini,whichhasincludedbrutalcrackdownswithover 18,000arrests,anestimated600protestersmurdered(includingatleast64childrenand35women),andover100people atimminentriskofexecution,ourcommunity’sdedicationtothisissuehasincreasedimmensely
Becauseofthis,theMAHSAActhasbroad-basedsupportwithinourcommunity.Iranian-AmericansviewtheMAHSA ActasacrucialstepinimposingcostsontheperpetratorsofthesecrimesagainsttheIranianpeople Wecurrentlyfind ourselvesinawindowofopportunitywithvirtuallynodomesticoppositiontomeasurestobetakenagainstthe IslamicRepublicwhileweseealmostuniversalsupportforpunitivemeasuresagainsttheregime.
TheMAHSAActhasbeenreintroducedtothe118thCongresswith61co-sponsorsincluding32Republicansand29 Democrats.Youcanseethelivelistofup-to-dateco-sponsorshere
OrganizationsSupportingtheMAHSAAct
Inadditiontobeingsupportedbyourorganization,NUFDI,theMAHSAActisalsosupportedbytheAllianceforthe RightsofallMinorities(ARAM),theIranWorkingGroupoftheInternationalReligiousFreedomRoundtable,the InternationalOrganizationtoPreserveHumanRights(IOPHR),theCyrusForum, theAmericanIsraelPublicAffairs Committee(AIPAC)andUnitedAgainstNuclearIran(UANI).
p: 202-699-1770
e: info@nufdiran org
w: www.nufdiran.org
ImpactsoftheMAHSAAct
SanctionsthatholdSupremeLeaderAliKhameneiandPresidentEbrahimRaisiindividuallyaccountable,suchasthose specifiedintheMAHSAAct,willhavesignificantsymbolicvaluefortheIranianpeopleandwillshowthemthatthe AmericanCongressisholdingtheirperpetratorsaccountablefortheircrimesagainsthumanity.Furthermore,itwillhavea significantimpactinweakeningtheregime’seconomicabilitytocrackdownonprotestersandperpetratefurtherviolence YoursupportfortheMAHSAActwillbeameaningfulshowofsolidaritywithyourIranian-Americanconstituents,an importantshowofsupportfortheIranianpeople’smovementforhumanrightsanddemocracy,andanimpactfulstepin holdingthisregimeaccountableforitscrimes.
AboutNUFDI
NUFDIisanon-profit,non-partisanorganizationrepresentingtheIranian-AmericancommunityinpursuitofaUSpolicy towardIranbasedonthevaluesofhumanrightsanddemocracy.
p: 202-699-1770
e: info@nufdiran org
w: www.nufdiran.org