Congressional Representatives Ask Trump Administration to Sanction Iran for Violating Human Rights and the Baha'i Minority
Six U.S. Congressmen from both major Republican and Democratic political parties introduced similar resolutions to the Senate and House of Representatives, condemning human rights violations in Iran, particularly the rights of the Baha'i minority, and calling on President Trump's administration to impose additional sanctions on Iran.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, and Republican Senator John Bozeman of Arkansas introduced a resolution to the Senate Tuesday evening condemning the violation of the rights of the Baha'i minority in Iran.
In addition to condemning violations of the rights of the Baha'i community, this bipartisan resolution also calls on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to release prisoners convicted and imprisoned for their religious beliefs, including seven Baha'i community leaders who have been imprisoned since 2008.
According to Senator Rubio, “The Iranian regime has discriminated against and cruelly persecuted the Baha’i community for decades… and the lack of religious freedom for Baha’is and other peaceful religious minorities in Iran cannot be ignored.”
At the same time, two representatives from the state of Florida in the US House of Representatives also condemned human rights violations, especially violations of the rights of the Baha'i minority, in Iran in a similar resolution and called on President Trump's administration to impose more sanctions on the Iranian government in this regard.
According to a statement published on the official website of the two members of Congress on Tuesday night, some other members of the House of Representatives from both parties have also supported the resolution proposed by Ileana Ras-Lattinen of the Republican Party and Ted Deutsch of the Democrat Party.
Ms. Ras-Lattinen, stating that Iran's dismal human rights record will worsen as next month's elections approach, said that despite the campaign to portray Hassan Rouhani as a reformist, executions and repression of political opponents and minorities in Iran have increased in the past few years.
He said the repression of the 300,000-strong Baha'i community in Iran, with daily harassment of Baha'i men and women, arbitrary arrests, and the prevention of their education and employment, is abhorrent. Baha'is are not allowed to gather or worship freely, and their cemeteries are targeted for vandalism and desecration.
The Republican representative also called on President Donald Trump's administration to use all its powers to the best of its ability to impose further sanctions against the Islamic Republic's regime for human rights violations in Iran.
In this resolution, Ted Deutsch also states that the Iranian regime commits gross human rights violations against its own people by denying religious freedom, persecuting minorities such as the Baha'is, and imprisoning LGBT people. He also says that the United States must stand up to the violation of basic human rights in Iran.
This senior congressman and chairman of the House of Representatives' Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee has also called for the punishment and punishment of those who commit such crimes in Iran and has called on the US government to impose additional sanctions on Tehran in this regard.
Source: Voice of America
