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 The 98-1 vote sent the measure to the House of Representatives,
which could consider it as soon as next week. The White House said
President Barack Obama would sign it into law if it also passes the
House, as expected, without significant changes.
"I look forward to House passage of this bill to hold President
Obama's administration accountable," John Boehner, the Republican
speaker of the House, said in a statement supporting the bill
shortly after the Senate vote.
The bill gives Congress 30 days to review a final nuclear deal after
international negotiators reach such an agreement, and during that
time bars Obama from temporarily waiving any U.S. sanctions on Iran
that were passed by Congress.
If the Senate and House pass a resolution of disapproval of the
deal, it would prevent Obama from offering any waiver of
congressional sanctions, the overwhelming majority of U.S. sanctions
on Iran.
Such sanctions can only be permanently lifted by Congress.
Lawmakers made clear another battle, over a final nuclear deal, lays
ahead. "Make no mistake, that will not be the end of the story,"
Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a speech
urging the bill's passage.
"There is bipartisan concurrence that we do not trust Iran," said
Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, a bill co-sponsor and the top
Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
TWISTS AND TURNS
Senate approval came after months of intense discussion of how
Congress could best have a voice in continuing negotiations between
Washington, five other world powers and Iran.
It was complicated by a dispute between Republicans and Democrats
over a Republican invitation to Israeli President Benjamin
Netanyahu, a critic of the nuclear talks, to address Congress in
March, and the April 1 indictment of one of the bill's original
co-authors, Democratic Senator Robert Menendez.
Republican Tom Cotton, who angered the White House by sending a
letter to Iran's leaders in March saying a nuclear deal would last
only as long as Obama is in office, was the only senator who voted
against the bill on Thursday.
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Obama had long threatened a veto, saying the legislation threatened
the talks. Negotiators have set a June 30 deadline for a final
agreement in which Iran will curtail its nuclear program in exchange
for relief from crippling sanctions.
But Obama agreed to sign a compromise version after many of his
fellow Democrats backed the legislation, insisting Congress deserved
a voice on a major international issue.
"Can you believe after all of this, there were 98 'yes' votes?"
Republican Senator Bob Corker, the bill's lead author and chairman
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asked at a news
conference after the vote.
During two weeks of debate in the Senate, the bill was threatened by
a dispute among Republicans over amendments.
Its supporters said many of the 67 proposed amendments filed by
Republicans would have killed the measure by alienating Democrats or
prompting a veto. For example, 2016 presidential hopeful Marco Rubio
wanted a nuclear deal to require that Iran recognize Israel's right
to exist as a state.
In the end, none of the amendments was included in the bill. But it
could still be changed in the House.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Will Dunham and
Jonathan Oatis)
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