The Patriot Post® · Secret Side Deals Erode Iran Nuke Accord

Forget Iran. The least trustworthy party in the Iranian nuke deal may well be the Obama administration. On Tuesday, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) called on the administration to disclose the whole Iran deal to Congress — even the two secret side deals that could completely discredit the larger nuclear deal. The first deal was between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and it involved how the two will resolve some military aspects of Iran’s nuclear program. The second deal lays out how the IAEA will inspect the Parchin military complex — a shadowy military base where Iran may test ballistic missile technology. Unbelievably, Iran will collect its own soil samples at that and other facilities.

With such provisions missing from the larger agreement, Congress cannot fully review it. Furthermore, the bipartisan Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act required the Obama administration to disclose all the documents and side deals. “The failure to disclose the content of these side agreements begs the question, ‘What is the Obama administration hiding?’” Pompeo said, “Even members of Congress who are sympathetic to this deal cannot and must not accept a deal we aren’t even aware of.” Obama adviser Susan Rice admitted the deals do exist, and said that the Obama administration would brief Congress in classified hearings. But even head U.S. negotiator John Kerry might not know what’s in the side deals. It appears that the least transparent administration in history is also the least competent.