Whereas Iran is a member of the United Nations, and is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, among other international human rights treaties; Whereas in violation of these and other international obligations, Iranian regime officials continue to violate the fundamental human rights of the Iranian people, including ongoing, systematic, and serious restrictions of freedom of peaceful assembly and association and freedom of opinion and expression, including the continuing closures of media outlets, arrests of journalists, and the censorship of expression in online forums such as blogs and websites; Whereas the Department of State 2017 International Religious Freedom Report states that According to the special rapporteur’s August 14 report, adherents of recognized religions … continue to face severe restrictions and discrimination, and are reportedly prosecuted for peacefully manifesting their religious beliefs. ; Whereas, on June 13, 2018, Iranian authorities again detained prominent lawyer and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh; Whereas according to Amnesty International, on June 18, 2018, 51-year-old Sufi bus driver, Mohammad Salas, was executed after a grossly unfair trial, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo strongly condemned this execution; Whereas senior governmental, military, and public security officials in Iran have continued ordering, and committing egregious human rights violations that, in many cases, represent official policies of the Iranian regime; Whereas, on December 28, 2017, popular protests against the Iranian regime began in the city of Mashhad and rapidly spread throughout the country, in the most significant anti-government protests in Iran since June 2009; Whereas through the protests and slogans the peoples of Iran have demonstrated that neither military intervention nor economic and political concessions to the present viable alternatives in resolving the Iranian crisis