Congress is giving President Barack Obama some breathing room on nuclear talks with Iran, while Obama is appealing directly to Iranians to support a deal facing a deadline at the end of the month.

After weeks of contentious maneuvering by the Senate and the White House over a bill that would force the administration to submit any deal to a congressional vote, senators pushing the measure said Thursday they would wait an additional three weeks before bringing the legislation to the floor.

The delay gives U.S. negotiators more time to hammer out an agreement and backers of the bill more time to gather support.

"We have been working together very closely to ensure we have the strongest vote possible," and pushing the vote back to April 14 will provide the best opportunity for that, said Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, a Republican, and Sen. Robert Menendez, the ranking Democrat, in a joint statement.