• The Supreme Leader is an institution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

• The Supreme Leader holds ultimate authority over Iran's judiciary and security apparatus, including the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, law enforcement forces under the Interior Ministry, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the Basij, a nationwide volunteer paramilitary group subordinate to the IRGC, all of which have engaged in human rights abuses in Iran. Additionally the IRGC, a United States designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, which reports to the Supreme Leader, continues to perpetrate terrorism around the globe, including attempts to kill and kidnap American citizens on United States soil.

• The Supreme Leader appoints the head of Iran's judiciary. International observers continue to criticize the lack of independence of Iran's judicial system and maintained that trials disregarded international standards of fairness.

• The revolutionary courts, created by Iran's former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, within Iran's judiciary, are chiefly responsible for hearing cases of political offenses, operate in parallel to Iran's criminal justice system and routinely hold grossly unfair trials without due process, handing down predetermined verdicts and rubberstamping executions for political purpose.

• The Iranian security and law enforcement forces engage in serious human rights abuse at the behest of the Supreme Leader.

• Iran's President, Ebrahim Raisi, sits at the helm of the most sanctioned cabinet in Iranian history which includes internationally sanctioned rights violators. Raisi has supported the recent crackdown on protestors and is rights violator himself, having served on a "death commission" in 1988 that led to the execution of several thousand political prisoners in Iran. He most recently served as the head of Iran's judiciary, a position appointed by Iran's current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and may likely be a potential candidate to replace Khamenei as Iran's next Supreme Leader.

• On September 16, 2022, 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, died in the detention of the Morality Police after being beaten and detained for allegedly transgressing discriminatory dress codes for women. This tragic incident triggered widespread, pro-women's rights, pro-democracy protests across all of Iran's 31 provinces, calling for the end to Iran's theocratic regime.

• In the course of the protests, the Iranian security forces’ violent crackdown includes mass arrests, well documented beating of protestors, throttling of the internet and telecommunications services, and shooting protestors with live ammunition. Five weeks into the protests, Iranian security forces have reportedly killed hundreds of protestors and other civilians, including women and children, and wounded many more.

Sanctions listed

MAHSA Act will require the President of the United States to annually determine whether the following sanctions apply to entities and individual:^[2]

• Sanctions described in section 105(c) of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8514(c)).
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• Sanctions applicable with respect to a person pursuant to 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).
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• Sanctions applicable with respect to a person pursuant to 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).
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• Sanctions applicable with respect to a person pursuant to Executive Order 13818 (relating to blocking the property of persons involved in serious human rights abuse or corruption).
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• Sanctions applicable with respect to a person pursuant to Executive Order 13876 (relating to imposing sanctions with respect to Iran).
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• 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, 2021.
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• The Supreme Leader of Iran and any official in the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran.
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• 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.
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• Any entity, including foundations and economic conglomerates, overseen by the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran which is complicit in financing or resourcing of human rights abuses or support for terrorism.
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• Any official of any entity owned or controlled by the Supreme Leader of Iran or the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran.
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• Any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with or at the recommendation of the Secretary of State—
  • 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
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  • to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this section;
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  • to be owned or controlled by, or to have 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
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  • to be a member of the board of directors or a senior executive officer of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this section.