Obama veto threat sets up a showdown over Iran

President Barack Obama issued a rare veto threat Thursday in response to a bipartisan Senate bill that would slap Tehran with new sanctions if it violates an interim deal over its nuclear program reached last month.

The threat sets up a standoff in the New Year between the White House and more than a dozen Senate Democrats and Republicans who introduced the bill on Thursday.

White House press secretary Jay Carney skewered the Senate move, saying such sanctions would undermine Mr. Obama’s diplomatic efforts “no matter how they’re structured.”