House Lawmakers Introduce Resolution Backing Iranian Protesters, Calling for Secular, Non-Nuclear Republic

A protester holds a gallows rope during a rally in the French city of Lyon on January 8 ag
AFP
Joshua Klein

Led by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) on the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 “anti-dictatorial” revolution, House lawmakers introduced a broad bipartisan resolution in support of a free, democratic, secular, and non-nuclear republic in Iran, with over 160 cosponsors.

During a press conference honoring the introduction of H. Res. 100 on Wednesday, Congressman McClintock said it “expresses our united support for the Iranian people in their struggle for a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran” while condemning the “violations of human rights and the state-sponsored terrorism” of the Islamic regime.

He described the “passion for freedom” of the Iranian people as “an inspiration to all who know them.”

“Their commitment to liberating Iran is what brings us here today,” he said, adding that “without these freedom fighters both here, around the world, and most importantly, within Iran, this growing, resolute and determined resistance movement would not be possible.”

The resolution recognizes that the Iranian people “are rejecting monarchic dictatorship and religious tyranny” and opting “to establish a democratic, secular, and non-nuclear” state in its stead.

It also urges the U.S. to “be involved in any establishment of an international investigation into the 1988 extrajudicial killings” of thousands of political prisoners in Iran, while calling on relevant U.S. 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 and expelling its agents.”

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) questions Intelligence Committee Minority Counsel Stephen Castor and Intelligence Committee Majority Counsel Daniel Goldman during House impeachment inquiry hearings before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill December 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. The hearing is being held for the Judiciary Committee to formally receive evidence in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, whom Democrats say held back military aid for Ukraine while demanding they investigate his political rivals. The White House declared it would not participate in the hearing. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA). (Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

McClintock insisted the new resolution is a means for the elected representatives of the American people to “add their voices to the growing chorus for liberty and justice in Iran.”

“Americans still celebrate our own struggle for liberation, nearly two and a half centuries ago, our own victory over tyranny and oppression, and we still recall that the stronger we stood, the more allies rallied to our cause from around the world,” he said.

“This is why we are standing today in a free land, and why Iranians will surely soon stand upon the free soil of their own country once again,” he added.

The Associated Press

The U.S. Capitol is seen behind a vigil honoring Iranians allegedly killed by their government during a rally in support of the ongoing protests in Iran at the National Mall on December 17, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

He also pointed to the increase in cosponsors in the last two years as a sign of the “growing support” of the American people for the cause of the repressed Iranian people.

“Our parties are divided on many issues — but not on this one,” he asserted. “On this issue, we stand united with you.”

According to McClintock, the resolution “catalogs the long list of outrages, crimes, and injustices inflicted by Iran’s dictatorship upon the Iranian people at home and as well as their nuclear and terrorist threats to the peaceful global community abroad.” 

He then warned that it is “only a matter of time” before the highest levels of the regime and the “guilty who cower behind their Islamic guard” will be “brought to justice.”  

“And their time is running out,” he added.

The resolution also serves as a message to the Iranian people and the world, he noted, that the U.S. Congress “stands with the organized resistance and against the tyrannical rulers who have wrecked their country and plagued the Middle East with terrorism and brutality.”

McClintock pointed to Iranian opposition MEK (Mujahadin-e Khalq) political leader and President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Maryam Rajavi’s “Ten Point Plan” to ensure Iranians’ freedom of expression and assembly, as well as the right to choose their elected leaders, as the “path toward a free, secular, Democratic and non-nuclear Iran.” 

That platform lays out ten points for Iran’s future in the aftermath of a revolution, calling for a variety of reforms supported by the Iranian people, including free and fair elections as well as legal safeguards for the rights of women and minorities.

According to McClintock, Americans are, in essence, saying the following to the people of Iran:

That the House of Representatives — 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” gathering in Paris; 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 and expelling its agents; stands with the people of Iran who are legitimately defending their rights for freedom against repression, and condemns the brutal killing of Iranian protesters by the Iranian regime; and recognizes the rights of the Iranian people and their struggle to establish a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran.

Speaking at the briefing, Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) expressed feeling “horrified by the paranoid regime’s brutal repression of its own freedom loving citizens.” 

“But all these evil doers should be paranoid, shouldn’t they?” he added.

The Texas Republican also stated he applauds “all who are demanding an end to the totalitarian regime and seeking a form of governance that derives its legitimacy from the people, not from an unelected dictatorial single party.”

“It’s time for that to be over,” he asserted. “We know America recognizes this time for that to be over.”

In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News, Dr. Majid Sadeghpour, the political director of the Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC), which is dedicated to the “promotion of a free and democratic Iran,” said the “unprecedented” bipartisan resolution — which “denounces the Shah’s ruthless and corrupt dictatorship and the current ruling religious tyranny” while supporting the “call for a secular, non-nuclear Iranian Republic” — should serve as a “compass for Washington to adopt the right policy on Iran.” 

Addressing Wednesday’s briefing, NCRI head Maryam Rajavi declared that now, “after more than 40 years of repression and resistance, the Iranian nation is ready again to overthrow another form of dictatorship” in order to “establish a democratic, pluralistic and secular republic.”

“What you see in Iran today is another revolution in the making,” she added.

The Associated Press

In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows students of the Sharif University of Technology attend a protest sparked by the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police, in Tehran, Friday, October 7, 2022. (AP Photo)

The matter comes as massive protests continue to sweep Iran following the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the Islamic theocracy’s notorious “morality police” for violating strict requirements for women to keep their heads covered in public.

Amini was reportedly abducted and killed by the force for having exposed some hair from beneath her mandatory Islamic headscarf.

Iranian officials have unconvincingly claimed she died of natural causes after the patrol stuffed her in a van and carted her off to a grim detention center. 

However, her family insists she had no life-threatening health problems. 

Since then, a slew of incidents involving abuses and even deaths at the hands of the regime have been documented amid an ongoing clampdown on protests, with clips circulating showing Iranian regime officers brutally assaulting protesters.

In October, representatives of Iran’s parliament in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) claimed Iran — the largest state sponsor of terrorism worldwide — is currently witnessing a revolution “in the making,” with the Islamic Republic no longer capable of containing the current uprising.

Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.

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