Bipartisan bill targets US visas for children of Iranian officials
New legislation aims to bring pressure on Iranian officials and their family members by denying them entry to the United States.
As nationwide protests in Iran enter their fourth month, a new proposal from US lawmakers would target not only Iranian officials responsible for the crackdown, but their children, Al-Monitor has learned.
The legislation, led by Reps. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), and Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), is dubbed the Revoking Entry Granted to Iranian Mullahs and Elites Act of 2022, or REGIME Act.
It would direct the US secretary of state to conduct a review of whether a wide-ranging group of Iranian officials — including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the supreme leader’s office and law enforcement — and their immediate family members are in possession of US visas or have applied for them.
Any visas issued to individuals who meet the criteria under Section 7031(c) of the annual State Department appropriations act must be revoked, according to the bill text.
