Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on Thursday slammed an “unorthodox” deal between an international agency and Iran, suggesting that it underscores what negotiators will do “to keep from offending the Ayatollah.”
“I am disappointed the White House is claiming these secret arrangements between Iran and the IAEA are nothing but routine, technical agreements when it is anything but that,” said Corker, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. “These unorthodox agreements speak to how far the P5+1 nations, including our negotiators, were willing to go to keep from offending the Ayatollah [Khamenei].”
{mosads}Corker’s comments come after the Associated Press
reported on Wednesday that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will allow Iran to use its own experts to investigate any past nuclear weapons work at its Parchin military facility.
The report quickly riled congressional Republicans, who were already deeply skeptical of so-called “side deals” between Iran and the IAEA.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the Senate’s No. 2 Senate Republican, separately called the IAEA-Iran agreement “remarkably naïve and incredibly reckless.”
But the administration is expressing confidence in the IAEA’s ability to investigate any previous effort by Iran to build a nuclear weapon.
“We’re confident in the agency’s technical plans for investigating the possible military dimensions of Iran’s former program — issues that in some cases date back more than a decade,” John Kirby, a spokesman for the State Department, told reporters. “Just as importantly, the IAEA is comfortable with arrangements which are unique to the agency’s investigation of Iran’s historical activities.”
But Corker added on Thursday that the agreement “will set a terrible precedent for the future.”
His comments come after he
said on Monday that Congress should reject the Iran nuclear deal when Congress votes on it next month.
If every Republican supports a resolution of disapproval, Corker will need to convince 13 Senate Democrats to buck President Obama to be able to overcome a veto.
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