U.S. Lawmakers, including Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, are concerned that the Obama administration would secure a deal with the Iranian regime that fails to adequately check Tehran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and a team of scientists headed to Capitol Hill Tuesday in an effort to quiet concerns over the weakness of an impending final nuclear deal with the Iranian regime, the Washington FreeBeacon reported.
Congressional leaders who emerged from the meeting additionally accused the administration of stonewalling attempts to obtain key documents explaining what exactly the Iranian regime would have to do under any final nuclear agreement.
One congressional source familiar with Tuesday evening’s classified briefing said that Obama administration officials sought to explain the ways it would ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon capability under any final deal.
“Since the verification regime and establishing Iran’s breakout capability are critical to evaluating any nuclear deal with Iran, the briefing from the secretary of energy and the directors of U.S. nuclear laboratories was arranged to help members understand in more detail the technical aspects of Iran’s nuclear program,” said one Republican aide to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The issue of verification continues to concern lawmakers and critics of the administration’s diplomacy.
“Corker, who participated in the classified briefing, accused Obama administration on Wednesday of misleading the public about the parameters of a final deal.
“Last night we met with scientists in a classified setting about laboratories and our secretary of energy to make sure Congress really understands all the details of this, can raise concerns,” Corker told Fox News. “We know there is already an agreement relative to the Iranian nuclear development program beginning in year 10” on any final deal.
“When the president said in that clip that you played that they can not get a nuclear weapon for 20 years, that is contrary to what he said on NPR right after the April 2nd agreement,” Corker explained.
Corker and others have been trying to obtain a document that offers the precise details of what the administration has tentatively agreed to. However, officials will not hand it over to Congress.
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