WASHINGTON: The US Congress failed on Friday to derail the Iran nuclear deal as Republicans could not get a veto-proof majority in either chamber of the bicameral legislature.

President Barack Obama has already pledged to veto any congressional resolution that rejects the deal the United States and five other world powers signed with Iran in Vienna in July.

“Today’s vote … is the latest indication that the more members have studied the historic deal … the more they have come out in support of it,” said the president after Friday’s vote.

The House first rejected a resolution to approve the Iran nuclear deal by 162 to 269 votes.

Later, it passed another resolution to suspend until Jan. 21, 2017, the authority of the president to “waive, suspend, reduce, provide relief from, or otherwise limit the application of sanctions” on Iran.

The House also passed a resolution on Thursday, criticising President Obama for not providing Congress with all documents of the Iran deal which, it said, was a violation of the congressional review law passed earlier this year.

On Friday, 25 Democrats voted with the Republicans against the resolution that sought to approve the nuclear agreement. Two Democrats also voted for the resolution for reducing President Obama’s authority to lift the sanctions.

But despite the defections, enough Democrats voted for the deal to deprive Republicans of a veto-proof majority.

The real battle, however, was fought on the floors of the Senate where President Obama needed 34 from a total of 100 votes to sustain his veto.

The Republican resolution opposing the deal got 58 votes but it was two less than then the 60 needed to undo a veto.

President Obama hailed the Senate vote as “a victory for diplomacy, for American national security, and for the safety and security of the world.”

He said his administration would now “turn to the critical work of implementing and verifying this deal so that Iran cannot pursue a nuclear weapon”.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who negotiated the deal with the Iranians, thanked members of the Senate for “carefully reviewing … and deliberating on the provisions” of the agreement.

He assured them that the “benefits of the agreement” that he personally supervised would “far outweigh any potential drawbacks.”

“This agreement, when implemented, will make the United States, our friends and allies in the Middle East, and the entire world safer,” Secretary Kerry said.

The US media, however, noted that the 25 Democrats, who crossed the party line to vote against the deal, have “created a wedge that Republicans can use to their advantage in the 2016 elections”.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has scheduled another vote on the Iran agreement next week. Republican leaders in the House are also seeking more votes.

Under the congressional review law, Congress has 60 days to review and vote on the Iran deal before President Obama can begin lifting sanctions against Iran.

Published in Dawn September 12th, 2015

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