Washington Times reported that U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Ms. Samantha Power came under harsh scrutiny from the lawmakers on Tuesday after she denied reports that the Obama administration and its allies were ignoring Iranian violations of international sanctions in a bid to keep a nuclear deal with Tehran from derailing.
In a hearing briefly interrupted by a room-clearing security scare   Ms. Power was forced to defend the administration’s record in the wake of a new U.N. watchdog report that detailed apparent acts of Iranian cheating that were not revealed by the U.S. and its negotiating partners.
“Absolutely not” Ms. Power said. “I myself am often involved in raising sanctions violations that Iran has carried out. We have also  even over the life of this last delicate phase of negotiations instituted more sanctions designations under the existing bilateral sanctions framework.”
“There’s no pulling of our punches  even during these negotiations or ever,” she added.
But a number of lawmakers complained the lack of transparency as the U.S. and Iran try to beat a June 30 deadline to reach an agreement to curb Tehran’s suspect nuclear programs. Many expressed doubt that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)   the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog   could monitor the agreement to ensure Iran did not cheat.
“From the standpoint of Congress   we do not feel we have received the details on these negotiations”, said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, California Republican.