At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the Iran nuclear deal Thursday, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., grilled Secretary of State John Kerry over economic sanctions and whether additional sanctions could bring Iran to the table on American hostages it’s holding and for its support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “Is Congress and the United States free under this agreement to adopt new sanctions legislation that will remain in force as long as Iran holds our hostages and supports Assad?” Sherman asked. “We’re free to adopt additional sanctions as long as they’re not a phony excuse for just taking the whole pot of the past ones and putting them back,” Kerry replied.