Hill reintroduces legislation to hold Iranian leaders accountable

U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) on July 21 reintroduced a bipartisan bill that would require the United States president to report on financial institutions’ involvement with officials of the Iranian government.

“For the past four decades, the people of Iran have lived under the brutal dictatorship of the Ayatollahs in Tehran,” said Rep. Hill. “The Ayatollahs, the Mullahs, and the Iranian military are all profiting at the expense of ordinary Iranian citizens and the Iranian people are rightfully calling for accountability. I stand with the Iranian people.”

Rep. Hill sponsored the Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act, H.R. 4592, with original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Al Lawson (D-FL) to ensure information on the funds obtained in an illegal or corrupt manner held by Iran’s authoritarian, theocratic regime are made public, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Hill’s staff.

“This legislation will provide transparency into the corruption and illicit behavior of the leaders of Iran,” Rep. Hill said. “I thank my colleague Rep. Lawson for his support and making this a priority.”

If enacted, H.R. 4592 also would require the U.S. Treasury Department to brief Congress on how such funds have been acquired and used, the summary says. 

“Iran’s government has continually engaged in corrupt business practices and other deplorable actions,” Rep. Lawson said. “It is vital that we hold Iran’s leaders accountable, and this legislation will provide a new mechanism of oversight to do just that.”

Reps. Hill and Lawson in March 2020 originally introduced the Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act of 2020, which stalled in the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.