III
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. RES. 145
Protecting the Iranian political refugees, including female former political
prisoners, in Ashraf–3 in Albania.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH27, 2025
Mr. T
ILLIS(for himself, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr.
C
RUZ, Mr. PETERS, Mr. DAINES, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr.
G
ALLEGO, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. COONS, and Mr. MARKEY)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Relations
RESOLUTION
Protecting the Iranian political refugees, including female
former political prisoners, in Ashraf–3 in Albania.
Whereas, since October 2023, the Iranian regime has increas-
ingly acted as the epicenter of terrorism in the region,
from supporting proxies that vehemently oppose peace in
the Middle East, to threatening commercial shipping and
free trade in the Red Sea and from targeting American
forces in the region, to providing missile and drones to
rogue actors, all of which pose serious risks to regional
peace and security and endanger the vital interests of the
United States;
Whereas the downfall of dictator Bashar al-Assad—a key ally
of the Iranian regime—exposes, but does not diminish,
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•SRES 145 IS
Iran’s role as the primary malign actor in the region as
it continues to adapt its destabilizing tactics through
proxies and illicit influence, and the regime’s efforts to
sow chaos, undermine regional stability, and threaten
United States and allied interests persist and may evolve
in unexpected and dangerous way that will demand un-
wavering vigilance and decisive action to counter their ag-
gression which thwarts movement toward peace and sta-
bility in the region;
Whereas Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of
terrorism today;
Whereas the Iranian people have rejected the regime ruling
Iran through several rounds of major demonstrations, en-
gulfing all 31 provinces of Iran calling for change;
Whereas the Iranian regime has resorted to killing, torture,
sexual violence, and imprisonment of protesters, and sev-
eral thousand protesters since 2017 have been killed, and
many more have been imprisoned;
Whereas, in the first 4 months of Masoud Pezeshkian’s presi-
dency, the judiciary of the Iranian regime has executed
over 500 prisoners, including political prisoners and at
least 17 women, sometimes publicly, and has increased
the use of hand amputation as punishment;
Whereas the Iranian regime has been intent on eliminating
the Iranian political refugees who survived Tehran’s re-
pression and were first based in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, in
the mid-1980s;
Whereas, starting in 2012, the United States Government
and the United Nations initiated the relocation of nearly
3,000 Iranian dissidents from Camp Ashraf, Iraq, where
they were repeatedly attacked by the Iranian regime’s
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•SRES 145 IS
proxies, and facilitated their gradual relocation in 2013,
2014, and 2015 to Albania;
Whereas the relocation of these Iranian political refugees to
Albania from Iraq was completed in September 2016,
and the refugees, a third of them women, are now resid-
ing in Ashraf–3 near Tirana in Albania;
Whereas, on April 19, 2016, before the relocation of the ma-
jority of the residents to Albania, in a letter to a Euro-
pean Parliament Vice-President, the Prime Minister of
Albania wrote, ‘‘Albania is fully engaged and committed
to ensure for the Iranian refugees all rights stipulated in
the Geneva Convention 1951, in the European Human
Rights Convention and in the whole international legisla-
tion.’’;
Whereas over 900 women and men of Ashraf–3 are former
political prisoners who endured torture while in prisons
and many of them are witnesses of the 1988 massacre
of political prisoners and other political killings in Iran,
among them eyewitnesses of crimes committed by
Ebrahim Raisi;
Whereas these witnesses must be fully protected for potential
testimonies before international courts investigating the
1988 massacre and other grave human rights violations
in Iran;
Whereas, in November 2021, the Swedish Judiciary moved
the whole court in Stockholm to Albania for 2 weeks to
facilitate hearing testimonies of 7 former Iranian political
prisoners now residing in Ashraf–3, whose testimony was
characterized as critical for a trial related to the 1988
massacre;
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Whereas, in December 2023, a Swedish court confirmed the
earlier ruling by the lower court of a life sentence for
Hamid Noury, implicated in the 1988 massacre where he
was an official in Gohardasht Prison;
Whereas the Iranian regime has stepped up terrorist attacks
against its opponents and has used blackmail, terror
threats, hostage-taking, sham judicial proceedings, and
other means of intimidation against western nations to
compel them to silence Iranian opponents living abroad;
Whereas, on several occasions, including in the last week of
December 2023, the Iranian regime carried out large-
scale cyberattacks against Albania to pressure the Gov-
ernment of Albania to undermine or end its hosting of
Iranian political refugees;
Whereas experience has shown that any lack of decisiveness
or concessions to Tehran only emboldens the Iranian re-
gime for its destructive actions;
Whereas the Iranian regime has, over the past few months,
stepped up threats against Ashraf–3, and given what the
regime has done since October 7, 2023, far more vigi-
lance on the part of the United States is required to en-
sure the complete protection and rights of Ashraf–3 resi-
dents in Albania;
Whereas, on December 12, 2023, the Iranian regime started
sham trials in absentia for 104 veteran members of the
Iranian Resistance, who, since years ago, have been pri-
marily based in Europe, including in Albania, to create
a phony legal precedent against them and secure their ex-
tradition to Iran by misusing INTERPOL Red Notices,
impose limitations, or set the stage for terror attacks
against them;
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•SRES 145 IS
Whereas the Iranian regime is doing its utmost through any
means to prevent Ashraf–3 residents from speaking up
against the regime;
Whereas the leadership role of women in Ashraf–3 has doubly
heightened the Iranian regime’s misogynous hysteria
against the political refugees in Ashraf–3;
Whereas over 4,000 parliamentarians around the world and
130 former world leaders have expressed their support
for Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan for the Future
of Iran, which calls for the universal right to vote, free
elections, a market economy, separation of religion and
state, and advocates for gender, religious, and ethnic
equality, a foreign policy based on peaceful coexistence,
peace in the Middle East, and a nonnuclear republic
Iran; and
Whereas, in sharp contrast to Iran’s institutionalized misog-
yny, this Ten-Point platform has adequately addressed
women’s equality, including ‘‘complete gender equality in
the realms of political, social, cultural and economic
rights. An equal participation of women in political lead-
ership, abolishment of any form of discrimination. The
right to choose one’s own clothing freely, the right to
freely marry and divorce, and to obtain education and
employment. Prohibition of all forms of exploitation
against women under any pretext.’’: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 1
(1) the Iranian political refugees in Ashraf–3, 2
in rejection of the Iranian regime’s demands, must 3
be afforded their fundamental rights of freedom of 4
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•SRES 145 IS
expression and assembly and legal political activities 1
in Albania; 2
(2) the United States Government condemns 3
the Iranian regime’s threats and nefarious actions 4
against the Government of Albania, including 5
cyberattacks and threats against the Iranian dis-6
sidents in Ashraf–3 in Albania; 7
(3) the United States Government should take 8
prompt and appropriate steps in accordance with 9
international law, including the Universal Declara-10
tion of Human Rights, the International Covenant 11
on Civil and Political Rights, the European Conven-12
tion on Human Rights, and the 1951 Convention 13
Relating to the Status of Refugees, to help the Gov-14
ernment of Albania ensure and uphold all funda-15
mental rights of Ashraf–3 residents within the 16
framework of the above conventions, including the 17
right to life, liberty, security, protection of property, 18
and freedom of expression and assembly; 19
(4) the United States Government strongly op-20
poses Iran’s misuse of the INTERPOL Red Notices 21
to impose restrictions or limitations or set in motion 22
the extradition of Iranian dissidents to Iran; and 23
(5) the United States Government must con-24
tinue close and regular cooperation with the Govern-25
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•SRES 145 IS
ment of Albania and the residents of Ashraf–3 to 1
ensure the complete protection and fundamental 2
rights of Ashraf–3 residents. 3
Æ
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