5 Oct 2024
Sunday 7 May 2017 - 11:17
Story Code : 259890

House oversight committee launches probe into Iran nuke deal

Sputnik -Members of the Republican-controlled Congress have announced an investigation into whether terms of the 2016 Iran nuclear deal set by the Obama administration and involving the release of several Iranians from prison threatened US national security.





The US House Oversight Committee, also known asthe Committee onOversight and Government Reform, announced onSaturday that it would investigate whether the US State Department underthe administration offormer President Barack Obama allowed terrorists togo free asmeans ofgetting the historic 2016 Joint Comprehensive Plan ofAction passed.

Seven Iranians were released aspart ofthe January 16, 2016, anti-proliferation nuclear deal, a landmark piece ofinternational legislation decades inthe making that is intended toprevent Iran fromdeveloping or deploying nuclear weapons.

In announcing the probe onSaturday, Republican committee leaders Jason Chaffetz and Ron DeSantis ofthe House Oversight Committee were responding toa story published byPolitico onApril 24, which said the Obama administration intentionally put the nation atrisk byreleasing the Iranians.

The committee leaders have asked fora trove ofdocuments fromthe Justice Department and the State Department onthe issue, including all documentation onthe prisoner release and information onwhether the two departments delayed or stopped processes todetain Iranian suspects elsewhere inthe world, a new Politico report fromMay 5 says. They also asked that Justice and State Department staff be made available fora briefing onthe topic later this month.
Thirteen Republican senators have stated ina letter that they are "concerned that President Obama and certain previous administration officials intentionally suppressed the seriousness ofthe charges againstthese individuals inorder togarner public support forthe nuclear deal withIran, and we fear that these individuals may still pose a threat tothe national security ofthe United States."


A January 2016 exchange ofseven Iranian prisoners was included inthe terms ofthe historic nuclear deal betweenChina, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany, alongsideIran. Politico reports that charges or convictions were dropped againstmore thana dozen more aspart ofthe deal.
The deal, which traded sanctions relief foran independently verifiable end toIran's nuclear program, also included the release offive US citizens held byTehran. The Obama administration explained that the Iranians freed underthe agreement were civilians who were not involved interrorism buthad committed acts violating the terms ofthe sanctions.


Chaffetz, the Republican chairman ofthe committee who currently garners a 14 percent approval rating and has just announced that he will abandon his political career in2018 due toallegations ofcorruption and cronyism, has been consistently unavailable forcomment onhis move.

US President Donald Trump has long been a critic ofthe Iran deal, even threatening onthe campaign trail totear it up. Since taking office, he has toned downhis rhetoric and said getting outof the deal is not a priority, though enforcing tothe letter will be.

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