Two Republican lawmakers, Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Mike Pompeo, say that by refusing to allow Congress to review "secret side deals" brokered as part of the Iranian nuclear accord, President Barack Obama has already directly violated a law he signed in May relating to the deal.
They are demanding that the Obama administration release the full details of the agreement, including anything pertaining to side deals, reported the Washington Free Beacon.
Cotton and Pompeo penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal Sunday criticizing the administration for refusing to disclose to Congress information about side deals made between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the organization responsible for ensuring that Iran upholds its end of the finalized deal.
The lawmakers accused Obama of "plainly violating[ing]" the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, a law he signed in May before a final Iran deal was reached in Vienna, which stipulates that Congress must receive "all nuclear agreement documents, including any related to agreements 'entered into or made between Iran and any other parties.' It expressly includes 'side agreements.' This requirement is not strictly limited to agreements to which the U.S. is a signatory," reports Western Journalism.
As HNGN previously reported, Cotton and Pompeo traveled to Vienna a few weeks ago and met with IAEA officials, who informed the lawmakers that "certain elements of this deal are - and will remain - secret and will not be shared with other nations, with Congress, or with the public."
The side deal has to do with IAEA's inspection of the Parchin military facility, one of Iran's most secretive sites, long-suspected of being involved in conducting nuclear weapons research.
The second side deal involves "how the IAEA and Iran will resolve outstanding issues on possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program," Pompeo said.
The administration has been inconsistent in acknowledging that such side deals exist, and it is unclear whether Obama officials have even reviewed them, the lawmakers said.
Cotton and Pompeo said Obama has been "irresponsible" for allowing side deals to be brokered on issues that could undermine the entire accord and make it impossible to verify that Iran is not pursing nuclear ambitions.
"When he announced his nuclear deal with Iran on July 14, President Obama said, 'This deal is not built on trust, it is built on verification,'" they wrote. "Those words are hollow unless Congress receives the full text of all documents related to the nuclear agreement."
Last week, the two sent a letter to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz requesting more details about the side deals so that it can be properly reviewed by Congress.
Congress has 60 days to approve the finalized deal, reject it or do nothing. But last Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a resolution calling for the 60-day period to only start once all relevant side deals are made available to Congress. As of now, the State Department interprets the review period as having started on July 20, according to The Hill.
