I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2614
To establish a program and strategy to support internet freedom and counter
censorship efforts in Iran, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL2, 2025
Mr. W
ILSONof South Carolina (for himself and Mr. PANETTA) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs,
and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services,
and Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish a program and strategy to support internet
freedom and counter censorship efforts in Iran, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Maximum Support 4
Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. STATEMENTS OF POLICY. 6
It is the policy of the United States to provide max-7
imum support to the people of Iran in their desire to bring 8
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•HR 2614 IH
about a new political system in Iran based upon democ-1
racy, human rights, and rule of law for all citizens of Iran. 2
SEC. 3. PROGRAM AND STRATEGY TO SUPPORT INTERNET 3
FREEDOM AND COUNTER CENSORSHIP EF-4
FORTS IN IRAN. 5
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 6
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 7
in conjunction with the Secretary of the Treasury and the 8
CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, shall establish 9
a new interagency task force to support internet freedom 10
and counter censorship efforts in Iran. In addition the 11
Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury and CEO of the 12
U.S. Agency for Global Media, acting as part of this task 13
force, shall develop and submit to Congress a strategy to 14
support the Iranian people in countering state and non- 15
state actors’ efforts to create deliberate barriers to inter-16
net access, including shutting down or slowing connectivity 17
and blocking online content protected by international 18
human rights standards. 19
(b) E
LEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub-20
section (a) shall include the following: 21
(1) A description of efforts to establish a Vir-22
tual Private Network (VPN) service specifically de-23
signed to enable the Iranian people to bypass gov-24
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ernment censorship and access the internet freely. 1
The objectives of this VPN service shall include— 2
(A) ensuring secure and uncensored inter-3
net access for users in Iran; 4
(B) providing robust protection against 5
surveillance and data interception by Iranian 6
authorities and others; 7
(C) maintaining high standards of speed 8
and reliability to ensure usability; and 9
(D) regularly updating and adapting the 10
service to respond to new security challenges 11
and censorship techniques employed by the Ira-12
nian government, IRGC and Iranian judiciary. 13
(2) A description of the use of enhanced sat-14
ellite communications through direct-to-cell tech-15
nology and eSIM and eSIM device distribution, in-16
cluding— 17
(A) the incorporation of services such as 18
services that provide seamless internet access 19
directly to cellular devices and other technology 20
to facilitate seamless internet access in Iran; 21
and 22
(B) a program for the distribution of 23
eSIMs and eSIM devices to individuals in Iran, 24
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enabling them to connect to satellite internet 1
services quickly and securely. 2
(3) A description of Iranian regime restrictions 3
on the import of cell phones— 4
(A) detailing Iranian government, IRGC, 5
and Iranian judiciary restrictions on iPhone 14, 6
iPhone 15, and iPhone 16 devices out of fear 7
of satellite internet technology including re-8
quirements that such phones be registered with 9
the government and the impact of past bans on 10
such phones; 11
(B) outlining steps to counter the regime’s 12
efforts to restrict access to devices capable of 13
utilizing satellite-based internet services; and 14
(C) describing measures by the Secretary 15
of State to curb any efforts by the regime to 16
create secondary or black markets that would 17
allow the Iranian government, IRGC, or Iranian 18
judiciary or their affiliates to profit from the 19
sale of these devices through controlled chan-20
nels. 21
(4) A detailed vetting plan for technology com-22
panies or individuals contracted to expand internet 23
access in Iran, ensuring that no companies or indi-24
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viduals affiliated with the Iranian regime are in-1
volved in initiatives to promote internet freedom. 2
(5) A description of which VPNs in Iran are 3
built by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps 4
(IRGC) and other entities controlled by the Govern-5
ment of Iran or its Supreme Leader and how such 6
VPNs are used by the regime to surveil and monitor 7
users, as well as a plan to counter these deceptive 8
tactics and raise public awareness about the risks 9
associated with regime-affiliated VPNs. 10
(6) A detailed plan to support satellite-to-cell 11
internet technology in Iran, ensuring that— 12
(A) such technology cannot be censored or 13
jammed by the regime; and 14
(B) access does not require the transfer or 15
sale of hardware that could be controlled by the 16
IRGC or sold on secondary markets. 17
(7) providing secure communication tools, 18
encryption technology, and cybersecurity software 19
designed specifically for high-risk users; 20
(8) cybersecurity training programs for Iranian 21
activists, dissidents, and journalists focused on iden-22
tifying regime-sponsored cyberattacks, phishing 23
schemes, and digital surveillance tactics; 24
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(9) rapid response technical support for individ-1
uals and organizations experiencing cyber threats or 2
attacks; and 3
(10) a system of regular evaluation and report-4
ing to Congress detailing cybersecurity threats en-5
countered and measures undertaken to mitigate such 6
threats. 7
(c) F
ORM.—The strategy required under subsection 8
(a) shall be submitted in unclassified form. 9
(d) I
MPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 60 10
days after the date on which the strategy required by sub-11
section (a) is developed, the task force shall submit to 12
Congress a plan for implementing the strategy. 13
SEC. 4. CONFISCATION OF THE ASSETS OF THE GOVERN-14
MENT OF IRAN AND PUPPET TERRORIST OR-15
GANIZATIONS. 16
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The President shall— 17
(1) confiscate, through instructions or licenses 18
or in such other manner as the President determines 19
appropriate, funds of the Government of Iran and 20
all agents or instrumentalities of the Government of 21
Iran that are subject to the jurisdiction of the 22
United States; and 23
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(2) deposit funds confiscated under paragraph 1
(1) in the general fund of the Treasury to be used 2
for purposes described in subsection (c). 3
(b) V
ESTING.—All right, title, and interest in funds 4
confiscated under subsection (a) shall vest in the Govern-5
ment of the United States. 6
(c) P
URPOSES.—Funding may be provided to provide 7
maximum support to persons and entities within Iran 8
which are working for a transition to a democratic govern-9
ment based upon human rights and rule of law. To the 10
extent practicable, funding must be provided to persons 11
and entities with transparent measurable results, includ-12
ing through providing detailed annual information on ex-13
penditures and outcomes. In particular, funding may be 14
provided to: 15
(1) Establish a strikers fund to provide assist-16
ance to vetted Iranians engaged in nonviolent strikes 17
and other forms of nonviolent opposition to the re-18
gime in Iran done in a way which does not materi-19
ally benefit the regime in Iran. 20
(2) Providing humanitarian assistance and 21
medical supplies to the people of Iran delivered 22
through partners that uphold internationally recog-23
nized humanitarian principles with robust moni-24
toring to ensure assistance is reaching intended 25
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beneficiaries in a way which does not materially ben-1
efit the regime in Iran. 2
(3) Establish a fund to support efforts to docu-3
ment and publicize gross violations of internationally 4
recognized human rights and international humani-5
tarian law in Iran, including efforts related to 6
extrajudicial killings, torture, severe forms of traf-7
ficking in persons such as slavery, forced labor, and 8
sexual exploitation, and to hold perpetrators ac-9
countable. 10
(4) The funding of efforts of the task force to 11
promote internet freedom in Iran described in sec-12
tion 3(a) of this Act. 13
(d) A
UDIT.—The Comptroller of the United States, 14
and the Inspector Generals of the Department of State, 15
Department of Treasury, and USAID shall report to Con-16
gress annually after engaging in annual audits of funds 17
expended based upon subsection(c), including whether or 18
not the regime in Iran materially benefitted from any ex-19
penditure of funds. If the Comptroller of the United 20
States, or any of the Inspector Generals, determine that 21
the regime in Iran has benefited from any expenditure 22
such expenditures must be immediately terminated, and 23
any recommendations to prevent future diversion of funds 24
must be immediately implemented. 25
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SEC. 5. STRATEGY TO ENSURE SANCTIONS DO NOT IMPEDE 1
INTERNET FREEDOM FOR THE PEOPLE OF 2
IRAN. 3
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 4
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 5
in conjunction with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall 6
develop and submit to Congress a strategy to ensure that 7
sanctions imposed on the regime in Iran do not inadvert-8
ently prevent Iranian civilians from accessing technology 9
and tools necessary for internet freedom and open commu-10
nication. 11
(b) E
LEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub-12
section (a) shall include— 13
(1) An examination of existing sanctions and 14
their impact on the availability of internet freedom 15
tools for the people of Iran, including— 16
(A) an assessment of any unintended re-17
strictions that limit access to Virtual Private 18
Networks (VPNs), secure messaging applica-19
tions, satellite communication technology, cloud- 20
based services, and other tools necessary for cir-21
cumventing government censorship; and 22
(B) an analysis of how sanctions may af-23
fect the ability of technology companies and 24
non-governmental organizations to provide serv-25
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ices and support to the Iranian people without 1
materially benefiting the regime. 2
(2) The issuance of specific licenses and waivers 3
that facilitate internet freedom in Iran while ensur-4
ing that such measures do not enable or provide fi-5
nancial benefit to the regime, including— 6
(A) the development of clear guidelines for 7
private sector entities on how they can provide 8
internet-related services to Iranian civilians 9
without violating U.S. sanctions; 10
(B) a streamlined process for approving 11
waivers and licenses that support internet ac-12
cess and digital communication tools for the 13
Iranian people; and 14
(C) measures to prevent the misuse of such 15
licenses and waivers by entities affiliated with 16
the Iranian government or Iranian judiciary or 17
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), 18
or other affiliated of the Iranian government in-19
cluding a regular review process to ensure that 20
waivers are not being misused by regime- 21
aligned groups. 22
(3) A plan to work with technology companies, 23
civil society organizations, and international partners 24
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•HR 2614 IH
to expand access to censorship-resistant communica-1
tion technologies in Iran, including— 2
(A) identifying key stakeholders capable of 3
providing secure and effective internet access 4
solutions; 5
(B) ensuring companies seeking to provide 6
such services are properly vetted to prevent in-7
advertent assistance to the Iranian regime; and 8
(C) enhancing public awareness campaigns 9
within Iran about the availability of secure 10
internet access tools. 11
(4) A detailed mechanism for continuously mon-12
itoring and assessing the effectiveness of these meas-13
ures, including— 14
(A) regular reporting to Congress on the 15
impact of licenses and waivers issued to facili-16
tate internet freedom in Iran; 17
(B) recommendations for further actions to 18
improve access to open and secure communica-19
tion technologies; and 20
(C) an evaluation of the Iranian regime’s 21
attempts to counteract these measures and 22
strategies to mitigate such efforts. 23
(c) F
ORM.—The strategy required under subsection 24
(a) shall be submitted in unclassified form. 25
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(d) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 60 1
days after the date on which the strategy required by sub-2
section (a) is developed, the task force shall submit to 3
Congress a plan for implementing the strategy. 4
SEC. 6. STRATEGY TO PROVIDE MAXIMUM SUPPORT TO 5
THE IRANIAN PEOPLE IN THEIR EFFORTS TO 6
ESTABLISH A NEW POLITICAL SYSTEM BASED 7
ON THE RULE OF LAW, DEMOCRACY, AND 8
HUMAN RIGHTS. 9
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 10
date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall de-11
velop and submit to Congress a strategy detailing steps 12
to provide maximum support to the Iranian people in their 13
efforts to bring about a transition to a new political system 14
and government based on the rule of law, democracy, and 15
human rights. 16
(b) E
LEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub-17
section (a) shall include— 18
(1) D
IPLOMATIC EFFORTS OF THE DEPART -19
MENT OF STATE .—A description of how the Sec-20
retary of State will— 21
(A) use diplomatic efforts to support the 22
Iranian protest movements in their pursuit of 23
democratic governance; and 24
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(B) establish a Special Representative for 1
Maximum Support including an Office for the 2
Special Representative to coordinate U.S. Gov-3
ernment efforts to assist the Iranian people in 4
their democratic aspirations and to serve as a 5
key liaison with international partners in sup-6
port of this objective. 7
(2) M
AXIMUM ECONOMIC PRESSURE BY THE 8
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY .—A description of 9
how the Secretary of the Treasury will— 10
(A) implement and enforce sanctions tar-11
geting key sectors of the Iranian economy that 12
sustain the regime’s oppressive activities; 13
(B) disrupt the financial networks that fa-14
cilitate the Iranian regime’s terrorist activities 15
and human rights abuses; and 16
(C) coordinate with international partners 17
to maximize the effectiveness of economic meas-18
ures aimed at weakening the regime’s ability to 19
suppress its people. 20
(3) I
NTELLIGENCE SUPPORT FOR THE IRANIAN 21
PROTEST MOVEMENT .—A description of how the In-22
telligence Community will— 23
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(A) use intelligence-gathering capabilities 1
to monitor and expose the Iranian regime’s ef-2
forts to suppress dissent and target protestors; 3
(B) provide support to Iranian civil society 4
actors and opposition groups to enhance their 5
security and operational capabilities; and 6
(C) assist in identifying and countering 7
disinformation campaigns initiated by the Ira-8
nian regime to delegitimize democratic move-9
ments. 10
(4) M
EDIA FREEDOM AND INFORMATION CAM -11
PAIGNS.—A description of how the United States 12
Agency for Global Media (USAGM) will— 13
(A) expand and enhance broadcasting ef-14
forts to provide the Iranian people with accu-15
rate and unbiased news coverage on the situa-16
tion in Iran; 17
(B) utilize social media platforms to expose 18
and highlight the Iranian regime’s crimes 19
against its own people, including human rights 20
abuses, corruption, and acts of violence against 21
protestors; and 22
(C) support independent Iranian journal-23
ists and media outlets in their efforts to report 24
freely and counter the regime’s propaganda. 25
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(5) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION .—A plan for 1
ensuring coordination between relevant agencies, in-2
cluding the Department of State, the Department of 3
the Treasury, the Intelligence Community, and 4
USAGM, to ensure a comprehensive and unified ap-5
proach in supporting the Iranian people’s pursuit of 6
democracy. 7
(c) F
ORM.—The strategy required under subsection 8
(a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include 9
a classified annex if necessary. 10
(d) I
MPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 60 11
days after the date on which the strategy required by sub-12
section (a) is developed, the task force shall submit to 13
Congress a plan for implementing the strategy. 14
SEC. 7. DESIGNATION OF THE IRANIAN MINISTRY OF IN-15
TELLIGENCE AND SECURITY AS A FOREIGN 16
TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. 17
(a) F
INDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 18
(1) The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Se-19
curity (MOIS) is the primary intelligence apparatus 20
of the Government of Iran, responsible for espio-21
nage, covert operations, surveillance, cyberattacks, 22
kidnappings, assassinations of dissidents abroad, 23
and direct support for terrorist proxies. 24
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(2) MOIS provides financial, logistical, and 1
operational support to terrorist groups already des-2
ignated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the 3
United States, including Hezbollah and designated 4
militias operating in the Middle East. 5
(3) MOIS poses a direct and ongoing threat to 6
the national security of the United States, American 7
citizens abroad, and U.S. allies through continued 8
support for terrorism, espionage operations, and acts 9
of violence. 10
(b) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-11
gress that— 12
(1) the activities of MOIS satisfy the statutory 13
criteria for designation as a Foreign Terrorist Orga-14
nization under section 219 of the Immigration and 15
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); and 16
(2) formally designating MOIS as an FTO 17
would advance the national security interests of the 18
United States, strengthen enforcement against its 19
global operations, and enhance international efforts 20
to isolate its terrorist networks. 21
(c) D
ETERMINATION AND REPORT.— 22
(1) R
EQUIREMENT FOR DETERMINATION .—Not 23
later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 24
of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation 25
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with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney 1
General, shall determine, pursuant to the criteria 2
specified in section 219 of the Immigration and Na-3
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189), whether MOIS meets 4
the criteria to be designated as a Foreign Terrorist 5
Organization. 6
(2) D
ESIGNATION.—If the Secretary of State 7
determines that MOIS meets such criteria, con-8
sistent with section 219 of the Immigration and Na-9
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189), the Secretary shall 10
designate MOIS as a Foreign Terrorist Organization 11
and promptly submit to the appropriate congres-12
sional committees a detailed justification for such 13
designation, including an assessment of threats 14
posed by MOIS. 15
SEC. 8. STRATEGY TO ENCOURAGE DEFECTIONS FROM THE 16
GOVERNMENT OF IRAN. 17
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 18
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consulta-19
tion with the Secretary of the Treasury and Director of 20
National Intelligence, shall develop and submit to Con-21
gress a strategy aimed at encouraging and facilitating de-22
fections by Iranian officials and members of security 23
forces who seek to support democratic change in Iran. 24
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(b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub-1
section (a) shall include— 2
(1) identification of mechanisms to securely 3
communicate with potential defectors, including se-4
cure digital channels utilizing encryption tech-5
nologies and private intermediaries; 6
(2) measures providing assurances of safety and 7
security to defectors and their families; 8
(3) establishment of a dedicated interagency 9
working group tasked with managing defections, en-10
suring defector safety, verifying information pro-11
vided by defectors, and mitigating potential intel-12
ligence risks; 13
(4) incentives for defectors who can signifi-14
cantly contribute to democratic change or who pro-15
vide actionable intelligence about regime operations, 16
including potential financial assistance, employment 17
support, and housing assistance in coordination with 18
relevant domestic agencies; 19
(5) measures for publicizing successful defec-20
tions, when appropriate and consistent with security 21
protocols, to encourage additional defections within 22
the regime; and 23
(6) coordination with international partners to 24
share best practices, jointly facilitate defections, and 25
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ensure defectors receive international protection, as 1
needed. 2
(c) F
ORM.—The strategy required under subsection 3
(a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may con-4
tain a classified annex if necessary. 5
(d) I
MPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 60 6
days after the submission of the strategy, the interagency 7
working group shall submit to Congress a detailed imple-8
mentation plan for the strategy. 9
SEC. 9. CYBERSECURITY ASSISTANCE TO IRANIAN DIS-10
SIDENTS. 11
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi-12
nation with the Director of National Intelligence, shall es-13
tablish a cybersecurity support program specifically tai-14
lored to assist Iranian dissidents, journalists, and civil so-15
ciety organizations in countering cyber threats posed by 16
the Iranian regime. 17
(b) E
LEMENTS.—The cybersecurity support program 18
shall include— 19
(1) providing secure communication tools, 20
encryption technology, and cybersecurity software 21
designed specifically for high-risk users; 22
(2) cybersecurity training programs for Iranian 23
activists, dissidents, and journalists focused on iden-24
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tifying regime-sponsored cyberattacks, phishing 1
schemes, and digital surveillance tactics; 2
(3) rapid response technical support for individ-3
uals and organizations experiencing cyber threats or 4
attacks; and 5
(4) a system of regular evaluation and report-6
ing to Congress detailing cybersecurity threats en-7
countered and measures undertaken to mitigate such 8
threats. 9
SEC. 10. STRATEGY TO ENCOURAGE DEFECTIONS FROM 10
THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN. 11
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 12
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consulta-13
tion with the Secretary of the Treasury and Director of 14
National Intelligence, shall develop and submit to Con-15
gress a strategy aimed at encouraging defections by Ira-16
nian officials and members of security forces who seek to 17
support democratic change in Iran. 18
(b) S
TRATEGYDESCRIBED.—The strategy required 19
under subsection (a) shall include— 20
(1) identification of mechanisms to securely 21
communicate with potential defectors, including se-22
cure digital channels utilizing encryption tech-23
nologies and private intermediaries; 24
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(2) measures providing assurances of safety and 1
security to defectors and their families; 2
(3) establishment of a dedicated interagency 3
working group tasked with managing defections, en-4
suring defector safety, verifying information pro-5
vided by defectors, and mitigating potential intel-6
ligence risks; 7
(4) incentives for defectors who can signifi-8
cantly contribute to democratic change or who pro-9
vide actionable intelligence about regime operations, 10
including potential financial assistance, employment 11
support, and housing assistance in coordination with 12
relevant domestic agencies; 13
(5) measures for publicizing successful defec-14
tions, when appropriate and consistent with security 15
protocols, to encourage additional defections within 16
the regime; and 17
(6) coordination with international partners to 18
share best practices, jointly facilitate defections, and 19
ensure defectors receive international protection, as 20
needed. 21
(c) F
ORM.—The strategy required under subsection 22
(a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may con-23
tain a classified annex if necessary. 24
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(d) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 60 1
days after the submission of the strategy, the interagency 2
working group shall submit to Congress a detailed imple-3
mentation plan for the strategy. 4
Æ
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kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB