So far, US lawmakers have already finished the bill and the Senate intends to vote on it well before the current round of international nuclear talks ends in June.

Meanwhile, Obama has on several public occasions, including in his second-to-last State of the Union speech on Tuesday, vowed to veto any new sanctions bill, warning that such a bill would scuttle talks underway to prevent Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon.

During a hearing on the issue Wednesday, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken called new sanctions "unnecessary" since Iran is already under acute pressure from the application of the existing sanctions regime.

The squabble over the new sanctions bill is only one of a series of issues over which the White House and Congress have resentment toward each other.

In response to Obama's vow to veto any new sanctions bill, Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner announced on Wednesday that he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most prominent opponents to the current Iranian nuclear talks, to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress next month.

"In this time of challenge, I am asking the prime minister to address Congress on the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life," said a Congress statement. "Americans and Israelis have always stood together in shared cause and common ideals, and now we must rise to the moment again."