Brad Sherman (D – Calif.), the second ranking democratic member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, questioned whether the worldwide Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was capable of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and expressed his skepticism of the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), suggesting that it will need to be renegotiated in an interview with José Díaz-Balart on MSNBC yesterday.
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Some western media have reported that Amano will meet members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a bid to blunt growing criticism of the agency’s inspections regime for Iran’s nuclear sites.
Critics of the talks with the longtime U.S. nemesis have cast the agreements as “secret side deals” and have demanded that their contents be revealed.
State Department spokesperson John Kirby deflected to the IAEA.
“I hope that Senator Cotton had a pleasant trip to Vienna, but his travel was not necessary to learn the information he claims to have obtained”, said Mr. Earnest, dubbing the freshman senator “Tom Cotton, global man of mystery” – a reference to the 1997 Austin Powers movie about a goofy, hipster secret agent.
Republican leaders are calling on the administration to provide them with the text of the side agreement, saying they will be unable to judge the strength of the agreement without knowing all its provisions.
The GOP-led Congress is reviewing the nuclear deal and is likely to reject it, but it is unlikely to be able to override a veto of its disapproval by President Barack Obama.
(State officials point out that most if not all IAEA inspectors receive training in America and have done so for many years.).
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I take it that the White House is willing to say and do just about anything in support of this catastrophic deal.
