The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed bills renewing sanctions on Iran for 10 years and imposing new sanctions on Syria, Reuters reported.
The House of Representatives voted by an overwhelming majority of 419 to one for a 10-year reauthorization of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), a law first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in Iran's energy industry and deter Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The House also passed by voice vote a bill that would sanction the government of Syria, and supporters including Russia and Iran, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Iran measure will expire at the end of 2016 if it is not renewed, noted Reuters. It must still be passed by the Senate and signed by President Barack Obama in order to become law.
The Obama administration and other world powers reached an agreement last year in which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Despite the agreement, lawmakers said they wanted the ISA to stay in effect to send a strong message that the United States will respond to provocations by Iran and give any U.S. president the ability to quickly reinstate sanctions if Tehran violated the nuclear agreement. READ MORE
