Obama agrees compromise with Congress on Iran vote

Congress looks likely to have a chance to reject a final nuclear deal with Iran after a Senate committee unanimously approved a bill the White House had threatened to veto.

The Obama administration withdrew its threat after several of the bill's most controversial aspects were softened and in the face of strong bipartisan support that looked likely to overcome any presidential veto.

The bill, which now has a strong chance of a comfortable and quick passage, would give Congress an opportunity to reject a final nuclear agreement with Iran which negotiators hope to reach by the end of June.

The White House lobbied hard against the measure in recent weeks, and the bill creates another hurdle for the administration as it tries to translate the "framework" agreement announced two weeks ago into a final deal. Officials worry it could give Tehran a reason not to trust US commitments to lift sanctions.

However, the White House remains optimistic that opponents of the Iran talks would not be able to gather the 67 votes that would effectively be needed to block a final deal.

The unanimous passage of the bill through the Senate foreign relations committee represents a rare case of old-style, bipartisan dealmaking on Capitol Hill and is a victory for Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the committee. Mr Corker was one of the few Republican senators who did not sign a controversial letter to the Iranian leadership last month.

Mr Corker secured substantial Democratic support for the bill after watering down two provisions to which the White House had objected. The period that Congress would have to review a deal was cut from 60 to 30 days, while the administration would no longer need to certify every quarter that Iran was not sponsoring terrorism. Any congressional vote would take place after a deal was reached with Iran.

Shortly before the committee met to discuss the bill, the White House withdrew its veto threat. "The president would be willing to sign the proposed compromise that is working its way through the committee today," said Josh Earnest, White House spokesman.

Mr Corker said the revised bill provided the sort of congressional oversight that he had been pushing for "from day one", adding that the White House had blinked because it was losing support from Senate Democrats. "This was not something that the administration favoured, but Congress prevailed," he said.

Some Republican senators were critical of the concessions. Ron Johnson from Wisconsin said the revised bill gave Congressional oversight "very little teeth."

Ben Cardin, the leading Democrat on the committee who helped negotiate the revised bill, said it represented a "fair compromise" and would provide Congress with "an orderly way to review the agreements".

The bipartisan support for the bill could still be endangered if other members of Congress introduce amendments that impose new conditions. Marco Rubio, the Republican senator who is running for president, had wanted to make a final deal dependent on Iran recognising Israel but withdrew his proposed amendment at the committee hearing.

Secretary of state John Kerry visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to appeal for a chance to complete the nuclear talks. "We hope Congress listens carefully and ask the questions that it wants, but also gives us the space and the time to be able to complete a very difficult task which has high stakes for our country," he said.

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