Senate Democrats block Iran bill: UpdateOREANDA-NEWS. September 11, 2015. Senate Democrats today blocked Republicans from moving forward with a resolution to reject the nuclear agreement reached with Iran, sparing President Barack Obama from having to veto legislation backed by majorities in both houses of Congress.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) tried unsuccessfully today to cut off debate on a resolution of disapproval to scuttle the 14 July agreement the US and other global powers reached with Iran. That deal swaps nuclear concessions for oil and petrochemical sanctions relief.

McConnell needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to proceed, but a bloc of 42 Democrats and independents voted against bringing up the measure for a final vote. That 58-42 vote effectively ended any prospect of Congress halting implementation of the deal.

The real drama over Congress' review of the nuclear agreement ended on 2 September, when Obama attracted enough votes to sustain his veto if the resolution of disapproval had passed. But now, Obama will not have a politically embarrassing resolution of disapproval reach his desk.

Obama called the vote "a victory for diplomacy, for American national security, and for the safety and security of the world." Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) declared that "the historic agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon will stand."

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said that "if the president is so proud of this deal, then he should not be afraid." McConnell said voters will register their opinion of the agreement in November 2016 in the next presidential election, in which Obama cannot participate because of term limits.

With the deadline for the congressional review period of the nuclear agreement scheduled to end on 17 September, McConnell promised to try again to have a vote next week.

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives voted 245-186 in favor of a nonbinding resolution insisting that Obama has not lived up to the requirement that the administration turn over all documents related to the nuclear agreement. Lawmakers have been highly critical of the administration's failure to turn over documents pertaining to the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA's agreements with Tehran.

Under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, lawmakers have 60 days to take action to reject or approve the agreement. That 60-day window has long been recognized to end on 17 September. But House Republicans are now asserting that the congressional review period has not begun, because the White House has not produced the IAEA documents.

Tomorrow, the House is expected to vote on a binding resolution of approval of the deal. That measure will almost certainly fail, but the vote will put Democrats on record supporting the president on what Republicans believe is an unpopular agreement.

The House will approve a separate binding measure that would bar Obama from lifting sanctions imposed on Iran. And House Republicans also are considering filing a lawsuit to challenge Obama's authority to proceed with the nuclear deal.

But the House's maneuvers are not likely to stall implementation of the nuclear agreement.

For weeks Republicans and the Israeli government have blasted the agreement US and its P5+1 negotiating partners, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China, reached with Iran. During the longer period of negotiations, EU and US sanctions have limited Iran's crude exports to 1.1mn b/d, down from about 2.5mn b/d before they were imposed in 2012.

Six countries — China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey — were allowed to keep buying oil from Iran. Iran produced 2.86mn b/d in August, down from 2.88mn b/d in July, making it Opec's fourth-largest oil producer.