![\"US-Congress-1a-400\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/07\/US-Congress-1a-400.jpg\" "\\"US-Congress-1a-400\\"")
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The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday to block the purchase of \u201cheavy water\u201d from the Iranian regime, defying President Barack Obama\u2019s veto threat a year after the announcement of the landmark Iran nuclear agreement.<\/p>\n
The House passed the \u201cNo 2H2O from Iran Act\u201d by 249-176, with support coming almost exclusively from Republicans, who hold a majority of seats in the chamber.<\/p>\n
Every congressional Republican, and a few of Obama\u2019s fellow Democrats, opposed the nuclear deal between the Iranian regime and the United States and other world powers announced last July 14 in which Tehran agreed to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for relief from crippling international sanctions.<\/p>\n
They argued that Obama was so eager to bolster his foreign policy legacy that he agreed to sanctions relief Tehran did not deserve because it lied about its nuclear program, supported militant groups that attack US allies and perpetrated human rights abuses, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
Heavy water is a non-radioactive byproduct from making nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. The Obama administration said in April the United States would buy $8.6 million worth of heavy water from the Iranian regime, angering Republicans who called it a subsidy of the regime\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n
The White House issued a threat on Monday to veto the bill, and two others the House is due to consider later this week.<\/p>\n
Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, denied that the House measure would violate the landmark pact. He said it would deter the Iranian regime from producing heavy water by making its sale more difficult.<\/p>\n
Separately, two Senate Republicans and two Democrats said on Wednesday they would introduce their own Iran-related bill.<\/p>\n
The measure introduced by Republicans Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio and Democrats Robert Menendez and Joe Manchin would expand sanctions for the Iranian regime\u2019s ballistic missile development, sanction transfers of conventional weapons to or from Iran and extend the Iran Sanctions Act.<\/p>\n
The Iran Sanctions Act, which imposed sanctions over Tehran\u2019s missile development and support for terrorism, expires at the end of 2016. Lawmakers have been in discussions for months over the best way to address its renewal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday to block the purchase of “heavy water” from the Iranian regime, defying President Barack Obama’s veto threat a year after the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-20700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nuclear","8":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n