The US Congress on Wednesday evening passed a resolution limiting the powers of President Donald Trump to wage war on Iran, while preserving the right of the United States to defend itself against an imminent attack.
The House of Representatives passed the resolution by 227 votes to 186, to join the Senate in supporting the text that would prevent any military action against Iran without putting it to a vote in Congress.
The move comes after the Senate adopted the same legislation that requires Trump to withdraw US forces from any hostilities against Iran, unless Congress authorizes them or passes a law allowing for military force.
But Trump is likely to use his veto power to overrule this decision, at which point Democratic lawmakers allied with a few Republicans will not be able to annul the president's veto because they lack the required votes.
This development coincided with the killing of two soldiers, an American and a British, and an American contractor in a ten Katyusha rocket attack targeting the Taji military base north of Baghdad.
This attack would increase tension between Washington and its allies on the one hand, and Tehran and the factions loyal to it on the other.
It is noteworthy that the Iranian-American tension reached its peak when the American forces killed the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, in early January.
The United States has about five thousand American soldiers on military bases throughout Iraq.