U.S. House of Representatives Symbolically Rejects Iran Deal

On Friday, September 20, the U.S. House of Representatives symbolically rejected the approval of the Iran nuclear deal with six world powers (JCPOA) with 269 votes against and 162 votes in favor. However, due to the actions of the Democratic minority and supporters of the deal in the Senate on Thursday that prevented a vote to reject this agreement, the House's decision will not hinder the implementation of this agreement by the Barack Obama administration. According to Reuters, members of the House of Representatives voted on the agreement after three hours of discussion, ultimately rejecting it by a majority. According to the report, 24 Democratic representatives also joined the opponents of the Iran nuclear deal and voted against it. The House vote occurred one day after the procedural action by supporters of the nuclear deal in the Senate to prevent a vote on the agreement. The Senate minority's action rendered the Republicans' efforts to reject the agreement ineffective. On Thursday, 17 senators sent a letter to the Senate President calling for the sufficiency of negotiations regarding the Iran nuclear deal. However, this proposal required 60 votes in favor, which could have eliminated the chances for supporters of the nuclear deal and Democrats to resort to a filibuster. Nevertheless, 58 voted in favor of the proposal and 42 senators voted against it. Under the filibuster, Senate members could speak indefinitely on any topic and effectively delay the consideration of the proposal in the Senate. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives on Friday passed a measure to prevent the President from suspending or lifting sanctions against Iran, which was approved with 247 votes in favor and 186 against. However, like the rejection of the Iran nuclear deal, this measure also requires Senate approval and must overcome a potential veto by Barack Obama. The U.S. Congress must express its opinion on the Iran nuclear deal by September 17 (next Thursday). However, with the Senate's action, the process of addressing this agreement has effectively ended. According to Reuters, John Boehner, the Republican majority leader in the House, stated on Friday, "This agreement (nuclear deal with Iran) is worse than I could have imagined." He added, "This agreement is so bad that the Ayatollahs (in Iran) do not need to cheat to get closer to the final steps of acquiring a nuclear weapon." Barack Obama, the President of the United States, praised the actions of Democratic and independent senators on Thursday shortly after the proposal for the sufficiency of negotiations failed, calling it a victory for "diplomacy, U.S. security, and world security." Obama added, "Today the Senate took a historic step forward and enabled the United States to implement a comprehensive and long-term agreement with its international partners that prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon." In a statement released by the White House, he said, "It is encouraging that this number of senators judged this agreement on its merits, and I am pleased with the strong support from lawmakers and citizens."