Wichita, KS - August 11, 2015 (The Ponder News) -- Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KS) issued the following statement after receiving a letter from the State Department in response to his letter to President Obama on July 22, 2015 in which he, Speaker of the House John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senator Tom Cotton requested access to the two secret side agreements to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“The State Department’s response says, in short, that Congress will not receive access to these secret side deals and the U.S. does not even have the right to ask for them. On what theory of international law are we prohibited from even asking for the documents? It seems the Administration would rather feign ignorance of the contents of these secret side deals than to defend the concessions made to the ayatollahs. These side deals go to the heart of whether the Iranian Nuclear Deal can actually be verified.
“The State Department’s response also states that they ‘have been transparent with Congress about the existence of these arrangements since [they] submitted the JCPOA’ on July 19, 2015. Nothing could be further from the truth. So far, the Administration has given seven different answers to the question of whether the side deals exist and who, if anyone, has read them, starting with the July 22 television appearance of State Department Spokesman John Kirby who tried to completely dodged the issue.
“The letter concludes with the sentiment that the ‘level of engagement with Congress . . . has been unprecedented.’ I agree that it has been ‘unprecedented.’ For the President to name call and equate opponents with the Iranian ayatollahs is completely ‘unprecedented.’
“I find the Administration’s response wholly unacceptable and I will continue to pursue access to the secret side deals.”
The full text of the letter from the State Department is below:
Dear Mr. Pompeo:
Thank you for your July 22 letter to President Obama regarding the nuclear deal between the PS+1, coordinated by the European Union, and Iran.
On July 14, the United States and our international partners concluded an historic deal that, if fully implemented, will verifiably prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is the result of nearly 20 months of intensive negotiations since the PS+1 and Iran concluded the interim Joint Plan of Action. Because of our combined diplomatic efforts, the international community will be able to verify that Iran will not obtain a nuclear weapon, and we will have taken an important step in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.
This deal is based on verification and requires important compliance monitoring and verification by Iran with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In the JCPOA, Iran committed to take certain steps set forth in the Roadmap agreement negotiated between the IAEA and Iran. This Roadmap and Iran's JCPOA commitment to undertake the steps in it are matters of public record, were posted publicly to the Internet, and were provided to Congress by the State Department on July 19. The IAEA-Iran Roadmap contains steps to clarify possible military dimensions. Under the JCPOA, Iran must complete the steps required of it in this Roadmap by October 15, well in advance of any sanctions relief.
The Roadmap refers to two "separate arrangements" between the IAEA and Iran. Within the IAEA system, such arrangements related to safeguards procedures and inspection activities are confidential and are not released to other member states. The United States does not have a right to demand these documents from the IAEA. However, the United States was briefed on these separate arrangements, and we in tum are briefing Congress on them as well in an appropriately classified setting. We have been transparent with Congress about the existence of these arrangements since we submitted the JCPOA, and we are happy to continue these conversations.
On July 19, Congress was provided with everything agreed between the PS+1 and Iran, in full compliance with the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA). There are no "secret deals" between the PS+ 1 and Iran and no JCPOA documents that Congress does not have. The level of engagement with Congress that we have maintained on the nuclear deal has been unprecedented and we look forward to continuing our close consultations. We hope this information is useful to you. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Julia Frifield
Assistant Secretary
Legislative Affairs
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