Senator says sees Iran nuclear bill vote as soon as Thursday

The Republican leader of the U.S. Senate cleared the way on Tuesday for a vote on a bill that would give Congress the power to review an international nuclear agreement with Iran, ending debate over efforts to use the measure to impose more conditions on Tehran.

 

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he had filed a “cloture” motion to begin the process of formally ending debate. Both Democrats and Republicans said they expected the Iran Nuclear Review Act would pass with strong support in the vote scheduled for Thursday.

 

“If we get to the final vote without additional blowups between now and then, I think it’s going to be overwhelmingly supportive,” Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and author of the bill, told reporters at the Capitol.

 

Corker made a presentation to his fellow Republican senators at a closed-door lunch meeting on Tuesday, urging them to support the measure without major changes.

 

A dispute among Republican senators over amendments last week had left Senate and foreign relations committee leaders scrambling for a way to move forward with the legislation.

 

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