US House approves Iran sanction

AFP


The US House of Representatives on Friday voted to bar companies that do business with Iran's energy sector or provide Tehran with sensitive weapons technology from getting US military contracts.

"It's time to present a simple choice: Companies can prop up the dangerous rouge regime in Iran, or they can do business with the US government and Department of Defense -- not both," said Democratic Representative Ron Klein, the author of the measure.

Lawmakers voted 416-1 to attach the measure to an annual military spending bill, which passed later by a 229-186 margin.

Klein's amendment would require companies to certify to the Pentagon that they do not do business with Iran as a condition for eligibility for US defense contracts.

The measure would apply to firms that invest more than 20 million dollars in one year in Iran's energy sector, or sell Iran any technology that could help Tehran develop weapons of mass destruction, or provide "destabilizing numbers and types" of advanced conventional weapons to the Islamic republic.

"There is a fierce urgency when it comes to cracking down on the regime in Iran," Klein said in a statement after the vote. "We cannot afford to waste a single day."

To become law, the House and Senate must pass identical bills, or merge their rival versions into a compromise they can approve and send to President Barack Obama to sign