Obama refuses to endorse renewal of Iran sanctions

US President Barack Obama has declined to ratify the renewal of sanctions against Iran, despite earlier speculations that he would.

On 1 December, the US Senate passed a 10-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) passing the measure to the White House for Obama to ratify into law. In an unexpected turn, he refused to sign the ISA but allowed it to proceed as law regardless.

Under the US Constitution, the president has the right to refuse to ratify legislation, as well as refusing them. A refusal is essentially a veto, but refusing to sign it means the law can be enacted, without it being ratified by the president per-se.