US Republican lawmakers have given up their push to take legal action against President Barack Obama over Iran's nuclear agreement, a report says.
“I don’t know that [a lawsuit is] on the immediate horizon,” said Representative Matt Salmon, who had been in initial talks about a court battle last year, according to The Hill.
Back in September, the Republicans were working hard to attack any legacy of Obama’s foreign policy by taking him to court to delay or even block the implementation of the agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1-- the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany -- on July 14, 2015, in Vienna, Austria.
Former House Speaker John Boehner, who had been a staunch opponent of the agreement, said in September that litigation is “an option that is very possible.”
“We will use every tool at our disposal to stop, slow and delay this agreement from being fully implemented,” he said.
The senior Republican's departure from the House in October, however, left the prospect of litigation dangling.
Under the agreement, dubbed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran has been recognized by the United Nations as a nuclear power and will continue its uranium enrichment program, but some restrictions will be placed on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions against the country.
The agreement is expected to take effect following the planned release of a report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify that Iran fulfilled a number of preliminary commitments under the JCPOA.