US Congress approves bill to renew Iran sanctions for 10 more years

The act, first passed by Congress in 1996 and renewed several times since then, expires at the end of 2016. The bill approved by the House extends the law by another 10 years, to 2026.

Congress on Tuesday approved the Iran Sanctions Extensions by a 419-1 vote.

The lone “no” vote came from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) who is often an unconventional vote.

Bill supporters said extending the law allows the US to sanction Tehran should the country fail to live up the terms of the controversial nuclear deal reached last year.

In exchange for Iran scaling down its nuclear program, the US and other world powers agreed to suspend wide-ranging oil, trade and financial sanctions that stifled the Iranian economy.

“Now is not the time to ease up on the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism,” said Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) “Sanctions work.”

The act, first passed by Congress in 1996 and renewed several times since then, expires at the end of 2016. The bill approved by the House extends the law by another 10 years, to 2026.

There is widespread support in the Senate for passing the extension.

Secretary of State John Kerry signaled earlier this year that President Barack Obama would sign the renewed bill.

By: World Israel News Staff
AP contributed to this report