Corker wants to give Dems time to cool down

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday that he’s giving his Democratic colleagues time to cool down over a controversial letter Republicans sent to Iran’s leadership.

Coker told reporters that he “understands timing is everything” when it comes to winning support for his bill requiring a review by Congress of any nuclear deal with Iran. 

“We’re realistic about the drama of the issue, and we understand timing is everything,” he said. “So we’ve let a few days go by so peoples’ passions can calm a little bit.”

Corker said he expects the Foreign Relations Committee to markup his Iran legislation next Wednesday or Thursday, after the March 24 deadline to reach an agreement on a framework for a final deal on Iran’s nuclear program. 

He said the Senate wouldn’t take up the legislation until after the two-week Easter recess, which he suggested could allow for things to “calm down.”

“Things will calm down I hope and we’ll have a better chance after the break to debate this,” he said. “You would expect there to be some drama, and as there turns out there has been. … I continue to have multiple conversations with people on the other side of the aisle.” 

Democrats have slammed a letter signed by 47 Senate Republicans that suggested any deal on Iran’s nuclear program could be overturned after President Obama leaves office in 2017. Corker did not sign the letter.

The Obama administration also sees Corker’s bill as something that could kill any prospects for a deal.

Negotiators have until the end of June to work out all of the details of a final deal and Corker said that means “there’s plenty of time for this to calm down and for people to appropriately weigh in.”

The Tennessee Republican declined to say if he thinks the Iran letter has cost him any Democratic votes. He argued “we’re at the same number.”

Corker, asked if he thinks a deal would be reached, told reporters that roughly two months ago he didn’t “think they were going to reach a deal.”

“About four or five weeks ago… there was a shift and that was when the United States started dealing directly with Iran,” Corker said. “That has made people even more nervous, even more nervous, because there just seems to be this ‘we’ve got to have a deal, we’ve got to have a deal, we’ve got to have a deal.’”