US House Rejects Iran Nuclear Agreement
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Republican-dominated US House of Representatives has torpedoed a resolution supporting the Iran nuclear agreement, media reports said.
In an attempt to show their objection to a vote on Thursday in the Senate that blocked a resolution disapproving Iran nuclear agreement, the House members voted against a measure approving the accord, with 25 Democrats joining the Republicans, The Hill reported.
The House members defeated the measure 269 to 162 in a strongly partisan vote.
After the resolution of approval failed, the House passed legislation 247-186 that would prevent Obama from lifting sanctions against Iran. That measure would expire on his successor’s first full day in office in January 2017.
While the failure of the resolution will not prevent the nuclear pact from taking effect, the vote serves as a rebuke of Obama.
The vote by the House came after 42 Democrats voted on Thursday in favor of the agreement and prevented a resolution disapproving the deal.
The Republicans, however, have vowed to continue to fight, expressing the hope that some Democrats would vote differently next time.
"We'll revisit the issue next week and see if maybe any folks want to change their minds," the Senate's Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said in a speech angrily denouncing the vote.
Under a law Obama signed in May, Congress has a 60-day period ending on September 17 to pass a resolution disapproving of the July 14 agreement reached between Iran and six world powers in the Austrian city of Vienna.
If such a resolution were to pass, and survive Obama's promised veto, it would bar the president from waiving many US sanctions on Tehran, a key component of the nuclear deal.
