Lawmaker: Kerry doesn’t know what’s in the Iran side deal

After classified briefings Wednesday with Secretary of State John Kerry and other administration officials, lawmakers say they aren’t satisfied with the explanation of side deals on Iran’s nuclear program that weren’t sent to Congress, and still want to see the original documents.

 

Rep. Mike Pompeo said Kerry told lawmakers that he has not read the side deals, never possessed a copy of them, and approved the nuclear agreement without knowing their details.

 

“These side deals were essential to getting a deal signed in the first place. Iran believed these side deals to be important to an overall agreement, and so should the United States. It is essential for Secretary Kerry to know what’s in the deal, and it is essential for the U.S. Congress to know what’s in this deal,” the Kansas Republican said.

 

The agreement — signed July 14 by International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano and Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran — was announced publicly, but parts of it are secret and there may also be secret annexes as well. Lawmakers are accusing the Obama administration of illegally withholding those documents.

 

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