US President Barack Obama is facing flaring Republican opposition over revelations of a secret side deal regarding Iran inspecting a very suspicious nuclear site, the Associated Press reported from Washington on Thursday, August 20th.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday on a previously undisclosed side deal between Iran and the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency that would allow Tehran to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms.
The revelation, based on a document seen by the AP, newly riled Republican lawmakers who have been severely critical of the broader agreement to limit Iran’s future nuclear programs, signed by the Obama administration, Iran and five world powers in July. Those critics have complained that the wider deal is unwisely built on trust of the Iranians”President Obama boasts his deal includes ‘unprecedented verification.’ He claims it’s not built on trust,” said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. “But the administration’s briefings on these side deals have been totally insufficient — and it still isn’t clear whether anyone at the White House has seen the final documents.”
Said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif.: “International inspections should be done by international inspectors. Period.”
Congress will vote next month on such a resolution, but if it is approved Obama has pledged to veto it. A two-thirds vote in the House and Senate would then be necessary to override him