Then-Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif lead their respective negotiatng teams at the nuclear talks in Vienna, Austria in July 2014. (Photo: State Department)

(CNSNews.com) – Despite a last-minute appeal by former Secretary of State John Kerry, the architect of the Iran deal, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday passed a new bill targeting Iran for missile activity, terror-sponsorship and human rights abuses – with strong support from Democrats.

Kerry, along with other key supporters of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), worry that enacting new sanctions legislation could jeopardize what is touted as one of the Obama administration’s most significant foreign policy achievements.

But in the 18-3 vote, all but two of the committee’s ten Democrats supported the Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act (S. 722), which notably applies terrorism sanctions against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Four of the ten – ranking member Ben Cardin (Md.) and Sens. Bob Menendez (N.J.), Chris Coons (Dela.) and Cory Booker (N.J.) – are also co-sponsors of the bill.

The other four Democratic “yes” votes came from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Tim Kaine (Va.) and Ed Markey (Mass.)

Voting “no” were Democratic Sens. Tom Udall (N.M.) and Jeff Merkley (Ore.), joined by Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.)

Earlier Kerry used his Twitter feed to argue to members of the committee he once chaired that “this is a time to tread carefully,” and – pointing to the recent re-election of Iranian President Hasan Rouhani – that “this is not the moment for a new Iran bill.”

“There are many tools to up the pressure already in place and at our disposal,” said the former secretary of state. “We need to weigh/consider risk to JCPOA.”

The bill was sponsored by committee chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), and six other Republicans on the panel were among a total of 48 co-sponsors (34 Republicans, 14 Democrats.)

“Iran’s rogue behavior has only escalated since implementation of the [nuclear] agreement, and this bipartisan bill approved by the committee today will give the Trump administration additional tools for holding Tehran accountable,” said Corker after the vote.

“It also sends an important signal that the U.S. will no longer look the other way in the face of continued Iranian aggression.”

“As the administration continues to review its Iran policy, Congress must set out clear markers that impose real consequences to Iran’s illicit behavior that runs counter to our national security and that of our allies in the region,” said Menendez. “I will work diligently with my colleagues so this important legislation is swiftly taken up by the full Congress and sent to the president’s desk for his signature.”

The bill could be taken up for a full Senate vote as soon as next month.

‘We need missiles’

During the negotiations that produced the JCPOA, the U.S. and other negotiating partners acceded to Iran’s demands that its ballistic missile program not be on the table.

They also allowed the inclusion of watered-down language relating to missiles in a resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council in mid-2015 endorsing the JCPOA. Earlier texts had stated Iran “shall not” carry out missile launches, but that was softened to Iran being “called on” not to do so.

A photo of an Iranian missile launch, posted on an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps website (Photo: Sepahnews)

In the months after the JCPOA was finalized, Iran stepped up its ballistic missile testing, and dismissed Western criticism by saying its actions were completely permitted.

Against that background, senators sought tough new sanctions, imposing mandatory sanctions not just relating to the ballistic missile program but also to terror-sponsorship, the transfer of conventional weapons to or from Iran, and human rights violations.

When selling the JCPOA to the U.S. Congress, Kerry repeatedly gave assurances that the nuclear deal’s easing of sanctions relating to the nuclear program did not mean the U.S. was precluded from imposing sanctions against Tehran for other destabilizing behavior.

On Wednesday, the newly re-elected Rouhani responded to fresh U.S. criticism of Iran’s missile program by telling his cabinet, “We need missiles and the enemy should know that we make everything we need, and we don’t pay an iota of attention to your words.”

“We don’t ask for permission from any country and anyone to develop our missile program,” Rouhani spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said after the cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile JCPOA supporters are especially troubled by S. 722’s targeting of the IRGC, a military organization that is deeply involved across many sectors of the Iranian economy.

The IRGC’s foreign operations division, the Qods Force, has been designated for sanctions since 2007 for providing support to Hezbollah, the Taliban and Palestinian terror groups.

But Corker’s bill declares that the IRGC itself, not just its Qods Force, “is responsible for implementing Iran’s international program of destabilizing activities, support for acts of international terrorism, and ballistic missile program.”

The legislation calls for designating the IRGC under executive order 13224, the same tool used against the Qods Force since 2007. Because of the IRGC’s extensive business interests, the provision could have far-reaching effects on the country’s economy.

Udall, one of the three Senate Foreign Relations Committee members to vote against the bill, proposed an amendment that would have removed the reference to the IRGC, targeting only the Qods Force.

Udall argued that the legislation would put the JCPOA at risk, and cited Kerry’s warnings.

The bill does stop short of calling for the IRGC to be designated a “foreign terrorist organization,” a step unsuccessfully called for in previous congressional initiatives, and opposed by Kerry as long ago as 2007 (as well as by then-Sens. Obama and Joe Biden, although supported by then-Sen. Hillary Clinton.)