Politics | Fri Apr 17, 2015 3:52pm EDT

Obama says will sign bill allowing Congress to review Iran deal

WASHINGTON | BY JEFF MASON AND ROBERTA RAMPTON

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday a bill allowing Congress to review a deal concerning Iran's nuclear program was a "reasonable compromise" he planned to sign, and he expressed confidence it would not derail talks with Tehran.

Obama told a White House news conference that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator Bob Corker and the panel's leading Democrat, Ben Cardin, had agreed they would protect the bill from "poison pills" amendments that would be tilted toward trying to kill an agreement with Iran.

Since the White House said on Tuesday that Obama would sign the bill, it has sought to reassure anxious negotiating partners. Talks are aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions.

"The final product that emerged out of the Corker-Cardin negotiations, we believe, will not derail the negotiations," Obama said. "Assuming that what lands on my desk is what Senators Corker and Cardin agreed to, I will sign it."

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]