WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama would veto a US Senate bill allowing Congress to vote on a final nuclear deal with Iran if amendments are added to the bill that require Iran to drop support for terrorist groups, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest stated on Thursday.
“There was an agreement that was reached, a strong bipartisan compromise… that the President has indicated he is willing to sign, but if there is an attempt and it succeeds to undermine that compromise…the President would absolutely veto that bill,” Earnest said.
Earnest’s comment came in response to a question about whether Obama would veto a bill with an amendment related to ensuring Iran would drop support for terrorism in order to lift nuclear-related sanctions.
The Committee’s decision to advance the bill, which now is heading for a Senate vote, follows the reaching of the political framework deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries on April 2.
Committee Chairman Bob Corker and Republicans in Congress said previously that they had enough bipartisan support to override an Obama veto.
However, ahead of the Committee’s vote on Tuesday, the White House said Obama was willing to sign Corker’s legislation after a compromise agreement was reached that would delink Iran’s support for terrorism from the nuclear negotiations.
Earnest noted the nuclear negotiations would not end Iran’s support for terrorism, and it was highly likely the country would continue to support terrorism. He emphasized reaching a nuclear deal was all the more important given Iran’s support for terror groups.
The bill will now go before the Senate for a vote, but could face amendments conditioning the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions against Iran on its dropping support for US designated terror groups.
The UN Security Council will only partially lift its sanctions, with the existing restrictions on conventional arms and ballistic missiles as well as core UN provisions dealing with the transfer of sensitive technologies and activities to remain in place.
The United States maintains a host of additional sanctions on Iran related to ballistic missiles, support for terrorism and violation of human rights. Those sanctions would remain in place under the April 2 framework deal.
