UPDATE - US House Passes Defense Bill With Amendment To Prevent Trump From Waging War On Iran

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2019) The US House of Representatives passed a version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which includes an amendment that will prevent the Trump administration from waging war on Iran unless it is acting in self-defense.

The House passed the NDAA with a 220-197 vote on Friday after 251 lawmakers backed the amendment on war with Iran.

The amendment includes provisions that would prevent the US president from carrying out offensive strikes on Iran without Congress' approval.

"If the President wants to go to war, he needs to come to Congress first. The Constitution gives Congress - not the President - the power to declare war," Congressman Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said before the voting got underway.

Lawmakers also amended the defense bill to include provisions that seek to end US support of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and rescind the administration's policy that bans transgender individuals from joining the US military.

The House defense bill will now have to be reconciled with the defense bill that the Senate approved in June.

Tensions between the US and Iran have escalated dramatically since Trump last year pulled the US out of the international nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.

US Congressman Rob Beyer said the bill will also "pump the brakes" on Trump's nuclear arsenal buildup.

The bill will also bans the administration form using Pentagon funding to house children separated from their parents at the border, Beyer said in a tweet on Friday.

The White House has indicated that President Donald Trump will veto the House version of the bill