The Washington Times reported on May 5 that a group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation that would require the U.S. government to support opponents of the Iranian regime and impose new sanctions against companies that aid the Iranian ruling regime.
The Washington Times wrote that the Iran Human Rights and Democracy Promotion Act is co-sponsored by Senator Mark Kirk, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Representative Robert Dold, and Representative Theodore Deutch.
At a news conference, the lawmakers announced that: “United States should make the issue of human rights a fundamental pillar of our international diplomacy with regard to Iran.”
Senator Kirk said “Iran’s support for international terrorism and defiance of the U.N. Security Council are byproducts of a dictatorship that denies its own people the basic human rights.”
According to the Washington Times, the Kirk-Gillibrand version of the legislation also would create a “special representative on human rights and democracy in Iran.”
Previously, President Obama was concerned about public support for Iranian dissidents, however, in recent months that the hope for engagement with the Iranian regime vis-à-vis its nuclear program has diminished, he is using a tougher language.
