Obama to tell Congress rejecting Iran accord a ‘historic mistake’

US President Barack Obama will tell Congress that it would be a “historic mistake” to vote down the nuclear agreement with Iran as a resolution of disapproval is introduced in the House of Representatives.

During a speech at American University in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Obama will argue that lawmakers’ decision on the Iran accord “should not even be a close call,” the White House said in a statement.

The US president will cast the congressional vote as “the most consequential foreign policy debate since the decision to go to war in Iraq.”

The speech will come as Republican leaders in the House and Senate have signaled they would move forward with resolutions to block the nuclear pact with Iran after the August recess.

Representative Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the disapproval resolution on Tuesday, setting up a showdown with the White House. If it passes, Obama would be unable to temporarily waive most US sanctions.