Findings; statement of policy

(a) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) For nearly five decades, the people of Iran have endured brutal repression under the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a regime that denies basic human rights, silences dissidents, and responds to peaceful protest with violence. (2) The people of Iran have repeatedly and courageously taken to the streets to demand economic opportunity, human rights, dignity, and freedom. (3) During the 2026 protests, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran responded with brutality by reportedly killing tens of thousands of people and wounding thousands more, arresting tens of thousands, and restricting internet access and telephone lines. (4) The people of Iran are protesting the Iranian regime’s economic mismanagement, corruption, internal suppression, and unjust executions. (5) Access to free expression, open information, and uncensored communication are fundamental human rights and critical to the survival of the Iranian protestors. (6) Thanks in part to United States-funded efforts to support human rights and open internet access, the Iranian people are consistently found to be one of the most pro-American populations in the Middle East. (7) The inspiring 2022 Women, Life, Freedom protests demanded an end to the Islamic Republic and its violence, particularly against Iranian women and ethnic minorities. (8) The barbaric so-called morality police and other arms of state suppression have a lengthy history of repressing the Iranian people’s fundamental freedoms. (9) The Iranian regime has engaged in systematic efforts to intimidate, harass, detain, and harm political dissidents, activists, and journalists both within Iran and beyond its borders. (10) The people of Iran deserve the right to dignity, democracy, and self-determination and to be free from the brutality of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. (b) Statement of policy It shall be the policy of the United States— (1) to recognize the right of the Iranian people to freely determine, through free and fair elections, the future leadership of their country; (2) to facilitate the immediate expansion of unrestricted internet access and civilian lines of communication across Iran; (3) to support the internationally recognized human rights of Iranians and United States programs to assist Iranian civil society, including in their credible documentation, reporting, and accountability efforts of abuses in Iran; (4) to fully enforce sanctions against regime violators of internationally recognized human rights and their family members, including any family members and associates in the United States that continue to directly or indirectly provide support to the regime; and (5) to work in coordination with its allies to consider appropriate measures to deter further lethal violence against protesters.