FreeBeacon.com:
House Republicans are still considering a lawsuit and other measures to prevent the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal and the provision of billions of dollars in sanctions relief to Tehran, according to one of the leading lawmakers opposed to the agreement.RELATED: White House says Obama would veto any bill that blocks Iran deal
Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.) told the Washington Free Beacon in an interview that the Obama administration still needs to address a “serious legal question” about the nuclear deal and the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which allowed Congress to evaluate the agreement before it was fully implemented. According to the review act, lawmakers were supposed to be granted access to the text of the agreement as well as “any additional materials related thereto, including annexes, appendices, codicils, side agreements, implementing materials, documents, and guidance, technical or other understandings, and any related agreements.”
However, Roskam and other lawmakers have said that they have been prohibited from viewing the “side deals” that govern the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Agency officials have said that such inspection deals typically remain confidential.
Further questions were raised about the secret side deals earlier this month when Iran said it obtained samples itself from Parchin—a military site where Tehran is suspected of conducting nuclear work—without agency officials present. Yukiya Amano, head of the agency, pushed back against those claims and said that “the agency can confirm the integrity of the sampling process and the authenticity of the samples.”
“This is such a far cry from the false claim [President Obama] had that this would be full disclosure and we would have all this information,” Roskam said. “Why are these side deals so sacrosanct?”
The clandestine nature of the side deals might also be illegal, he said. The plain language of the Nuclear Agreement Review Act—signed into law by Obama—requires the disclosure of all side agreements, placing a “high burden” on the administration to prove it is not violating the act by withholding side deals from Congress.
House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), is “actively considering” a legal challenge against the administration for violating the review act, Roskam said.
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