US House of Representatives clears 3 Iran nuclear deal bills for debate
The US House of Representatives has cleared three measures related to the Iran nuclear accord for debate.
The chamber also voted on Thursday along party lines to approve rules for debating the three bills.
There were 243 votes for the procedural vote, all from Republicans, and 186 against, all from Democrats.
Votes on whether to pass the measures or not are expected later on Thursday and on Friday.
One of the three bills is a resolution ruling that US President Barack Obama has not complied with the Iran nuclear review act, which gives Congress the right to review any agreement reached in the P5+1 talks with Iran.
The second is a motion of approval of the nuclear accord and the third would seek to eliminate Obama's ability to waive sanctions.
Republican lawmakers in the House devised the plan on Wednesday after concluding they lack enough votes to pass a resolution of disapproval of the nuclear deal.
However, US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner vowed on Thursday that he and his Republican colleagues will continue to “use every tool" to stop the nuclear deal.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican resolution to reject the deal, ensuring that the historic agreement can be implemented without Obama having to use his veto power.
Senators voted 58-42 to bring to the floor a resolution disapproving the deal. That was two votes short of the 60 votes Republican leaders needed to advance the bill.
The move delivered the Obama administration a major foreign policy victory and exposed the decreasing power of Israel lobby that spent millions of dollars to prevent the accord.
The American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has deployed hundreds of lobbyists on the US Capitol to try to convince lawmakers to vote against the agreement.
According to reports, AIPAC and other pro-Israel lobbying groups have spent at least $40 million on television commercials and other propaganda material to inform the public “about the dangers of the proposed Iran deal.”
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