Senate unit OKs slap for Tehran

WASHINGTON — A Senate panel overwhelmingly backed bipartisan legislation that would authorize President Trump to put new sanctions on Iran while keeping the landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in place.

The Foreign Relations Committee voted 18-3 on Thursday despite concerns from former Secretary of State John Kerry and several Democrats that the measure could nonetheless lead to the unraveling of the nuclear accord negotiated by the Obama administration.

Kerry cautioned lawmakers to “tread carefully” in pushing ahead with new sanctions against Iran in the wake of President Hassan Rouhani’s reelection last week. Rouhani is a political moderate who scored a resounding victory over a hard-line opponent.

But Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the committee’s Republican chairman and a bill sponsors, said he recently reviewed top-secret intelligence that detailed Tehran’s support for terrorism and other destabilizing actions.