S. 2626 Text - Reported to Senate - 118th Congress (2023-2024)

Calendar No. 373

118th CONGRESS
2d Session

S. 2626

To impose sanctions with respect to the Supreme Leader of Iran and the President of Iran and their respective offices for human rights abuses and support for terrorism.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

July 27, 2023

Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Risch, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Braun, Ms. Collins, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Bennet, Ms. Butler, Mr. Ricketts, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. Baldwin, and Mr. Lankford) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

May 7, 2024

Reported by Mr. Cardin, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To impose sanctions with respect to the Supreme Leader of Iran and the President of Iran and their respective offices for human rights abuses and support for terrorism.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. Short title.

This Act may be cited as the “Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act” or the “MAHSA Act”.

SEC. 2. Imposition of sanctions with respect to the offices of the Supreme Leader and President of Iran and affiliated persons.

(a) In general.—

(1) DETERMINATION AND REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall—

(A) determine whether each foreign person described in subsection (b) meets the criteria for imposition of sanctions under one or more of the sanctions programs and authorities listed in paragraph (2);

(B) impose applicable sanctions with respect to any foreign person determined to meet the criteria for imposition of sanctions pursuant to subparagraph (A) under the sanctions programs and authorities listed in subparagraph (A) or (F) of paragraph (2);

(C) pursue applicable sanctions with respect to any foreign person determined to meet the criteria for imposition of sanctions pursuant to subparagraph (A) under the sanctions programs and authorities listed in subparagraph (B), (C), (D), or (E) of paragraph (2); and

(D) submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report containing—

(i) a list of all foreign persons described in subsection (b) that meet the criteria for imposition of sanctions under one or more of the sanctions programs and authorities listed in paragraph (2); and

(ii) for each foreign person identified pursuant to clause (i)—

(I) a list of each sanctions program or authority listed in paragraph (2) for which the person meets the criteria for imposition of sanctions;

(II) a statement of which, if any, of the sanctions authorized by any of the sanctions programs and authorities identified pursuant to subclause (I) have been imposed or will be imposed within 30 days of the submission of the report; and

(III) with respect to which any of the sanctions authorized by any of the sanctions programs and authorities identified pursuant to subclause (I) have not been imposed and will not be imposed within 30 days of the submission of the report—

(aa) the specific authority under which otherwise applicable sanctions are being waived, have otherwise been determined not to apply, or are not being imposed; and

(bb) a complete justification of the decision to waive or otherwise not apply the sanctions authorized by such sanctions programs and authorities.

(2) SANCTIONS PROGRAMS AND AUTHORITIES LISTED.—The sanctions programs and authorities listed in this paragraph are sanctions programs and authorities pursuant to the following:

(A) Section 105(c) of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8514(c)).

(B) Executive Order 13553 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property of certain persons with respect to serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran).

(C) Executive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property and prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism).

(D) Executive Order 13818 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking the property of persons involved in serious human rights abuse or corruption).

(E) Executive Order 13876 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to imposing sanctions with respect to Iran).

(F) Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2023 (division K of Public Law 117–328).

(3) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required by paragraph (1)(D) shall be submitted in an unclassified form but may contain a classified annex provided separately containing additional contextual information pertaining to justification for the issuance of any waiver issued, as described in paragraph (1)(D)(ii). The unclassified portion of such report shall be made available on a publicly available internet website of the Federal Government.

(b) Foreign persons described.—The foreign persons described in this subsection are the following:

(1) The Supreme Leader of Iran and any official in the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran.

(2) The President of Iran and any official in the Office of the President of Iran or the President’s cabinet, including cabinet ministers and executive vice presidents.

(3) Any entity, including foundations and economic conglomerates, overseen by the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran that is complicit in financing or resourcing of human rights abuses or support for terrorism.

(4) Any official of any entity owned or controlled by the Supreme Leader of Iran or the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran.

(5) Any person determined by the President—

(A) to be a person appointed by the Supreme Leader of Iran, the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran, the President of Iran, or the Office of the President of Iran to a position as a state official of Iran, or as the head of any entity located in Iran or any entity located outside of Iran that is owned or controlled by one or more entities in Iran;

(B) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any person the property and interests in property of which are blocked pursuant to any sanctions program or authority listed in subsection (a)(2);

(C) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person the property and interests in property of which are blocked pursuant to any sanctions program or authority listed in subsection (a)(2); or

(D) to be a member of the board of directors or a senior executive officer of any entity the property and interests in property of which are blocked pursuant to any sanctions program or authority listed in subsection (a)(2).

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after receiving a request from the chairman and ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional committees with respect to whether a foreign person meets the criteria of a person described in subsection (b)(5), the President shall—

(A) determine if the person meets such criteria; and

(B) submit an unclassified report, with a classified annex provided separately if needed, to such chairman and ranking member with respect to such determination that includes a statement of whether or not the President imposed or intends to impose sanctions with respect to the person pursuant to any sanctions program or authority listed in subsection (a)(2).

(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term “appropriate congressional committees” means—

(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and

(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 3. Severability.

If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is found to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, or the application of that provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected.

SECTION 1. Short title.
This Act may be cited as the “Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act” or the “MAHSA Act”.
SEC. 2. Definitions.
In this Act:

(1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED; ALIEN; LAWFULLY ADMITTED FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE.—The terms “admission”, “admitted”, “alien”, and “lawfully admitted for permanent residence” have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).

(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The term “appropriate congressional committees” means—

(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and

(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives.

(3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term “foreign person” means an individual or entity that is not a United States person.

(4) KNOWINGLY.—The term “knowingly”, with respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the result.

(5) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term “United States person” means—

(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States; or

(B) an entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
SEC. 3. Imposition of sanctions with respect to the offices of the Supreme Leader and President of Iran and affiliated persons.

(a) In general.—

(1) DETERMINATIONS AND REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall—

(A) determine whether each foreign person described in subsection (b) meets the criteria, on or after such date of enactment, for imposition of sanctions under one or more of the sanctions programs and authorities listed in paragraph (2);

(B) determine whether each foreign person described in subsection (b) meets the criteria for imposition of sanctions under one or more of the sanctions programs and authorities listed in paragraph (2) based on actions taken by that foreign person in response to the protests sparked by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022; and

(C) submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report containing—

(i) a list of all foreign persons described in subsection (b) that meet the criteria for imposition of sanctions under one or more of the sanctions programs and authorities listed in paragraph (2); and

(ii) for each foreign person identified pursuant to clause (i)—

(I) a list of each sanctions program or authority listed in paragraph (2) for which the person meets the criteria for imposition of sanctions;

(II) a statement of which, if any, of the sanctions mandated or authorized by any of the sanctions programs and authorities identified pursuant to subclause (I) have been imposed or will be imposed within 30 days of the submission of the report; and

(III) with respect to which any of the sanctions mandated or authorized by any of the sanctions programs and authorities identified pursuant to subclause (I) have not been imposed and will not be imposed within 30 days of the submission of the report—

(aa) the specific authority under which otherwise applicable sanctions are being waived, have otherwise been determined not to apply, or are not being imposed; and

(bb) a complete justification of the decision to waive or otherwise not apply the sanctions authorized by such sanctions programs and authorities.

(2) SANCTIONS PROGRAMS AND AUTHORITIES LISTED.—The sanctions programs and authorities listed in this paragraph are sanctions programs and authorities pursuant to the following:

(A) Section 105(c) of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8514(c)).

(B) Executive Order 13553 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property of certain persons with respect to serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran).

(C) Executive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property and prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism).

(D) Executive Order 13818 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking the property of persons involved in serious human rights abuse or corruption).

(E) Executive Order 13876 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to imposing sanctions with respect to Iran).

(F) Penalties and visa bans applicable with respect to a person pursuant to section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2023 (division K of Public Law 117–328).

(3) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required by paragraph (1)(C) shall be submitted in an unclassified form but may contain a classified annex provided separately containing additional contextual information pertaining to justification for the issuance of any waiver issued, as described in paragraph (1)(C)(ii). The unclassified portion of such report shall be made available on a publicly available internet website of the Federal Government.

(b) Foreign persons described.—The foreign persons described in this subsection are the following:

(1) The Supreme Leader of Iran and any official in the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran.

(2) The President of Iran and any official in the Office of the President of Iran or the President’s cabinet, including cabinet ministers and executive vice presidents.

(3) Any entity, including foundations and economic conglomerates, overseen by the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran that is complicit in financing or resourcing of human rights abuses or support for terrorism.

(4) Any official of any entity owned or controlled by the Supreme Leader of Iran or the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran.

(5) Any person determined by the President—

(A) to be a person appointed by the Supreme Leader of Iran, the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran, the President of Iran, or the Office of the President of Iran to a position as a state official of Iran, or as the head of any entity located in Iran or any entity located outside of Iran that is owned or controlled by one or more entities in Iran;

(B) to have knowingly and significantly assisted, sponsored, or provided significant financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any person the property and interests in property of which are blocked pursuant to any sanctions program or authority listed in subsection (a)(2);

(C) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person the property and interests in property of which are blocked pursuant to any sanctions program or authority listed in subsection (a)(2); or

(D) to be a member of the board of directors or a senior executive officer of any entity the property and interests in property of which are blocked pursuant to any sanctions program or authority listed in subsection (a)(2).

(c) Congressional oversight.—Not later than 120 days after receiving a request from the chairman and ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional committees with respect to whether a foreign person meets the criteria of a person described in subsection (b)(5), the President shall—

(1) determine if the person meets such criteria; and

(2) submit an unclassified report, with a classified annex provided separately if needed, to such chairman and ranking member with respect to such determination that includes a statement of whether or not the President imposed or intends to impose sanctions with respect to the person pursuant to any sanctions program or authority listed in subsection (a)(2).

(d) Waivers.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may waive the application of sanctions under this section for renewable periods not to exceed 180 days if the President—

(A) determines that such a waiver is in the national security interests of the United States; and

(B) not less than 15 days before the granting of the waiver, submits to the appropriate congressional committees a notice of and justification for the waiver.

(2) FORM.—The waiver described in paragraph (1) may be transmitted in classified form.

(e) Sunset.—This section shall cease to have effect on the date that is 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. Modification and extension of Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act.

(a) In general.—Section 3 of the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Public Law 115–348; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended—

(1) in subsection (b)—

(A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and

(B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:

“(3) Each foreign person that the President determines, on or after the date of the enactment of the MAHSA Act—

“(A) is a member of Palestine Islamic Jihad or is knowingly acting on behalf of Palestine Islamic Jihad; and

“(B) knowingly orders, controls, or otherwise directs the use of civilians protected as such by the law of war to shield military objectives from attack.”;

(2) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), (g), (h), and (i) as subsections (f), (g), (h), (i), and (j), respectively; and

(3) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:

“(e) Congressional requests.—Not later than 120 days after receiving a request from the chairman and ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional committees with respect to whether a foreign person meets the criteria of a person described in subsection (b) or (c), the President shall—

“(1) determine if the person meets such criteria; and

“(2) submit a written justification to the chairman and ranking member detailing whether or not the President imposed or intends to impose sanctions described in subsection (b) or (c) with respect to such person.”.

(b) Definitions.—Section 4 of the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Public Law 115–348; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended—

(1) by redesignating paragraph (7) as paragraph (8); and

(2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:

“(7) PALESTINE ISLAMIC JIHAD.—The term ‘Palestine Islamic Jihad’ means—

“(A) the entity known as Palestine Islamic Jihad and designated by the Secretary of State as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); or

“(B) any person identified as an agent or instrumentality of Palestine Islamic Jihad on the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury, the property or interests in property of which are blocked pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).”.

(c) Sunset.—Section 5 of the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Public Law 115–348; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended by striking “December 31, 2023” and inserting “December 31, 2030”.
SEC. 5. Confronting asymmetric and malicious cyber activities.

(a) In general.—On and after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President may impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person that the President determines, on or after such date of enactment—

(1) is responsible for or complicit in, or has engaged knowingly in, significant cyber-enabled activities originating from, or directed by persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States that are reasonably likely to result in, or have materially contributed to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States;

(2) materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any activity described in this subsection or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this section;

(3) is owned or controlled by, or has acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this section; or

(4) has attempted to engage in any of the activities described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3).

(b) Sanctions described.—The sanctions described in this subsection are the following:

(1) INADMISSIBILITY TO UNITED STATES.—In the case of an alien—

(A) ineligibility to receive a visa to enter the United States or to be admitted to the United States; or

(B) if the individual has been issued a visa or other documentation, revocation, in accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of the visa or other documentation.

(2) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—The blocking, in accordance with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all property and interests in property of a foreign person if such property and interests in property are in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person.

(c) Requests by appropriate congressional committees.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after receiving a request that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) with respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an activity described in subsection (a), the President shall—

(A) determine if that person has engaged in such an activity; and

(B) submit a classified or unclassified report to the chairperson and ranking member of the committee or committees that submitted the request with respect to that determination that includes—

(i) a statement of whether or not the President imposed or intends to impose sanctions with respect to the person;

(ii) if the President imposed or intends to impose sanctions, a description of those sanctions; and

(iii) if the President does not intend to impose sanctions, a description of actions that meet the threshold for the President to impose sanctions.

(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A request under paragraph (1) with respect to whether a foreign person has engaged in an activity described in subsection (a) shall be submitted to the President in writing jointly by the chairperson and ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional committees.
SEC. 6. Sanctions with respect to threats to current or former United States officials.

(a) In general.—On and after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person the President determines has, on or after such date of enactment, ordered, directed, or taken material steps to carry out any use of violence or has attempted or threatened to use violence against any current or former official of the Government of the United States.

(b) Sanctions described.—The sanctions described in this subsection are the following:

(1) INADMISSIBILITY TO UNITED STATES.—In the case of a foreign person who is an individual—

(A) ineligibility to receive a visa to enter the United States or to be admitted to the United States; or

(B) if the individual has been issued a visa or other documentation, revocation, in accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of the visa or other documentation.

(2) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—The blocking, in accordance with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all property and interests in property of a foreign person if such property and interests in property are in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person.

(c) Enforcement of blocking of property.—A person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of a sanction described in subsection (b)(2) that is imposed by the President or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out such a sanction shall be subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section.

(d) Waiver.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may waive the application of sanctions under this section for renewable periods not to exceed 180 days if the President—

(A) determines that such a waiver is in the vital national security interests of the United States; and

(B) not less than 15 days before the granting of the waiver, submits to the appropriate congressional committees a notice of and justification for the waiver.

(e) Termination and sunset.—

(1) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The President may terminate the application of sanctions under this section with respect to a person if the President determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees not later than 15 days before the termination of the sanctions that—

(A) credible information exists that the person did not engage in the activity for which sanctions were imposed;

(B) the person has credibly demonstrated a significant change in behavior, has paid an appropriate consequence for the activity for which sanctions were imposed, and has credibly committed to not engage in an activity described in subsection (a) in the future; or

(C) the termination of the sanctions is in the vital national security interests of the United States.

(2) SUNSET.—The requirement to impose sanctions under this section shall terminate on the date that is 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 7. Resources for sanctions implementation at the Department of State.

(a) Sense of congress.—It is the sense of Congress that sanctions are a vital foreign policy and national security tool, and as such, it is critical that the Department of State and other agencies with responsibilities relating to sanctions across the executive branch—

(1) are fully staffed, including through the prompt confirmation by the Senate of a qualified head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination of the Department of State; and

(2) have the resources and infrastructure necessary for the successful development and implementation of sanctions.

(b) Increasing resources and improving modernization for sanctions implementation.—The Secretary of State shall take steps to modernize the sanctions infrastructure and increase resources dedicated to implementing sanctions, including by—

(1) ensuring the Department of State has necessary subscriptions and access to open-source databases for purposes of making determinations to support the designation of persons for the imposition of sanctions;

(2) equipping bureaus involved in drafting and reviewing evidentiary packages to support such designations with sufficient technical resources to do so, including an adequate number of workstations that can be used to review classified information; and

(3) increasing the number of personnel dedicated to making and reviewing such designations.

(c) Report on modernization efforts.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report describing steps the Department of State is taking to address challenges in the ability of the Department to support the designation of persons for the imposition of sanctions.

(d) Authorization of appropriation.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State for fiscal year 2025 $15,000,000 to carry out this section.
SEC. 8. Report on impacts on the Islamic Republic of Iran of sanctions imposed by the United States.

(a) In general.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and drawing on subject-matter experts including economists and statisticians from the Department of State and the Department of the Treasury, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the impacts on the Islamic Republic of Iran of sanctions imposed by the United States.

(b) Elements.—The report required by subsection (a) shall include an assessment of the following:

(1) The impact of sanctions imposed by the United States on the following:

(A) Problematic activities and policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including ballistic missile development, proliferation of Iranian drones and missiles to state and non-state actors, uranium enrichment, and funding of terrorist groups in the “Axis of Resistance”, and how sanctions have meaningfully impacted the ability of such groups to operate.

(B) Key officials of the Iranian regime, including their access to alternative financial markets, their standard of living, and impacts to their personal wealth.

(C) The operations of independent civil society organizations in Iran, including the ability of such organizations to access products that would allow them to document and share human rights abuses, promote democratic norms, and engage in political dissent.

(D) The efficacy of licensing actions aimed at ensuring the people of Iran have access to circumvention technologies around Iranian regime firewalls and censors to promote internet freedom, including General License D-2 of the Department of the Treasury.

(E) The standard of living of the people of Iran, including—

(i) the impact on the purchasing power of the people of Iran and their ability to afford and acquire food and medicine; and

(ii) changes in the size of the working and middle classes in Iran, including impacts to the poverty rate in Iran.

(F) The growth of unofficial economies controlled by officials of the Iranian regime and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

(2) What industries in Iran remain unaffected by such sanctions.
SEC. 9. Exceptions.

(a) Exception relating to importation of goods.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—A requirement to block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property under this Act shall not include the authority or a requirement to impose sanctions on the importation of goods.

(2) GOOD.—In this subsection, the term “good” means any article, natural or manmade substance, material, supply, or manufactured product, including inspection and test equipment, and excluding technical data.

(b) Exception to comply with united nations headquarters agreement and law enforcement activities.—Sanctions under this Act shall not apply with respect to the admission of an alien to the United States if admitting or paroling the alien into the United States is necessary—

(1) to permit the United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United States, or other applicable international obligations of the United States; or

(2) to carry out or assist authorized law enforcement activity in the United States.

(c) Exception to comply with intelligence activities.—Sanctions under this Act shall not apply to any activity subject to the reporting requirements under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intelligence activities of the United States.

(d) Humanitarian assistance.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Sanctions under this Act shall not apply to—

(A) the conduct or facilitation of a transaction for the provision of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, medical devices, humanitarian assistance, or for humanitarian purposes; or

(B) transactions that are necessary for or related to the activities described in subparagraph (A).

(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:

(A) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY.—The term “agricultural commodity” has the meaning given that term in section 102 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602).

(B) MEDICAL DEVICE.—The term “medical device” has the meaning given the term “device” in section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321).

(C) MEDICINE.—The term “medicine” has the meaning given the term “drug” in section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321).

(e) Report on exceptions.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that describes each activity that would be subject to sanctions under this Act if not excepted pursuant to subsection (b) or (c).

Calendar No. 373

118th CONGRESS
2d Session

S. 2626

A BILL

To impose sanctions with respect to the Supreme Leader of Iran and the President of Iran and their respective offices for human rights abuses and support for terrorism.

May 7, 2024

Reported with an amendment