House Decides to Continue Iran Sanctions Act

A voice vote was enough to repeal the sunset provision of the Iran Sanctions Act.

An Iranian flag at Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant during an official ceremony to kickstart work on a second reactor at the country's only nuclear power station on Nov. 10, 2019. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

The House passed a bill on May 5 to maintain U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Ryan McKenzie (R-Pa.), would repeal the sunset provision of the 1996 Iran Sanctions Act that allows the United States to sanction Tehran over its military capabilities, such as its ballistic missile program.

It passed by voice vote, and so there was no recorded ballot.

McKenzie’s legislation notes that Iran “has acquired destabilizing conventional weapons systems from the Russian Federation and other malign actors, and is funneling weapons and financial support to its terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East, threatening allies and partners of the United States, such as Israel.”

The measure comes as the Trump administration has implemented what it calls a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran while negotiating with the regime over its nuclear program.

The campaign has consisted of tough sanctions on Iran, targeting its nuclear program and petroleum industry.

President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” which aired on May 4, that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear program.

“Total dismantlement. ... Yes, that is all I would accept,” he said when asked by the interviewer, Kristen Welker, if Iran had to eliminate its nuclear program or just not have a nuclear weapon.

Trump said he is open to Iran having a civilian nuclear program for energy purposes.

“My inclination is to say, ‘What do you need that for? You have a lot of oil,’” he said.

“I think that I would be open to hearing it, you know?” he added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that there is a path for Iran to have a civilian nuclear energy program.

“If Iran wants a peaceful civil nuclear program, meaning they want nuclear power plants like other countries in the world have, there’s a way to do it,” he said on Fox News.

“And that is you build the reactors and you import enriched uranium to fuel those reactors.”

Iranian authorities first started enriching uranium themselves in 2010 to provide fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, which was given to Iran by the United States in the 1960s to conduct research.

The reactor was only intended to run for 25 years, but Tehran converted the facility to operate on low-enriched uranium with the help of international partners. When Iran’s access to low-enriched uranium ran out in the late 2000s, Tehran made the decision to create its own highly-enriched uranium for fuel and has never looked back.

A report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog released early in 2025 suggested that Iran had accelerated its production of enriched uranium to such an extent that it could likely produce about a half dozen nuclear warheads if it chose to do so.

The bill’s passage comes a day after Iran-backed Houthi terrorists launched a ballistic missile that landed near Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.

While there were no fatalities, eight people have been treated for injuries, according to Israel’s national emergency service, Magen David Adom.

Israel said it would respond.

“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran. Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport and, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement.

Andrew Thornebrooke contributed to this report.