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Report: Administration Hindering Review of Iran Nuke Deal Documents

by TheTower.org Staff |

There are 18 documents relating to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the recently concluded nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 nations, which the administration is keeping from public view by treating them as classified, even though 17 of them are unclassified, The Daily Beast reported yesterday.

The Obama administration delivered 18 documents to Congress on July 19, in accordance with legislation requiring a Congressional review of the nuclear deal. Only one of these documents is classified, while the remaining 17 are unclassified.

Yet many of these unclassified documents cannot be shared with the public or discussed openly with the press. The protocol for handling these documents, set by the State Department and carried out by Congress, is that these unreleased documents can only be reviewed ‘in camera’—a Latin term that means only those with special clearance can read them—and must be held in various Congressional [Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facilities] SCIFs. …

“The unclassified items… should be public. This is going to be the most important foreign policy decision that this Congress will make,” a Republican Senate aide told The Daily Beast. “This is the administration that once said it would be the most transparent administration in history. They’re not acting like it.”

While The Daily Beast notes that some Democrats support the secrecy surrounding the deal, it quotes Stephen Aftergood of Federation of American Scientists, who said, “The primary obstacle to congressional review that is created by this arrangement is the requirement to physically be present in the SCIF. Members of Congress cannot review the material in their offices, or share it with trusted colleagues or with subject matter experts. It is a significant hindrance to review.”

Some documents related to the JCPOA, described as side agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), could be made public if a request was made by the White House, but the administration has yet to take such a step.

[Photo: Tom Lohdan / Flickr ]

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