{"id":1271067,"date":"2022-02-04T12:54:58","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T17:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1271067"},"modified":"2022-02-04T12:55:04","modified_gmt":"2022-02-04T17:55:04","slug":"gop-demands-biden-iran-envoy-testify-before-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-demands-biden-iran-envoy-testify-before-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Demands Biden Iran Envoy Testify Before Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-demands-biden-iran-envoy-testify-before-congress%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1271067&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"article-category\"><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/\">National Security<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"article-excerpt\">Robert Malley has not briefed Congress a single time since starting talks with Tehran<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-thumbnail-container relative lg:mr-24 w-full my-4 mb-8\">\n\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"736\" height=\"491\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1236661025-736x491-1.jpg\" class=\"w-full lazyload blur-up wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"denied:data:image\/gif;base64, R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1236661025-scaled-e1643992857571.jpg 736w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1236661025-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1236661025-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1236661025-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1236661025-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1236661025-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1236661025-1400x933.jpg 1400w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"absolute text-white p-4 w-full text-right text-xs bottom-0 bg-black opacity-75\">\n\t\t\t\tUS Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley (Getty Images)\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"text-gray text-xs md:text-lg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/author\/adam-kredo\/\" title=\"Posts by Adam Kredo\" class=\"author url fn text-red-700\" rel=\"author\">Adam Kredo<\/a> \u2022 February 4, 2022 12:40 pm<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A group of Republican foreign policy leaders are demanding the Biden administration Iran envoy Robert Malley appear before Congress to testify about his efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear accord, according to a copy of the request sent to the State Department on Friday and obtained by the&nbsp;<em>Washington<\/em> <em>Free Beacon<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Malley, who was appointed last year to spearhead negotiations with Iran, has not appeared before Congress since taking the job, though Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee have asked many times to be briefed on the matter. Malley faced pushback on Capitol Hill when he was first appointed to the job, with lawmakers citing his past anti-Israel writings and efforts in 2008 to negotiate with the terror group Hamas, which saw him <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/a-bad-bad-choice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fired<\/a> from President Barack Obama\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n<p>With the Biden administration expected to announce a deal with Iran in the coming weeks, Malley is under pressure to answer questions before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Malley &#8220;has yet to appear before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for a public hearing to update Congress on nuclear talks with the regime and other important topics, such as American hostages that remain held in Iran, the regime\u2019s ongoing regional aggression, and its destabilizing missile program,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/2.4.22-Tenney-Letter-on-Malley-FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> the nine GOP lawmakers, led by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.).<\/p>\n<p>The request for this briefing comes amid reports that &#8220;the U.S. negotiating team under Malley\u2019s leadership is in complete disarray,&#8221; according to the lawmakers, who cite the recent firing of a State Department official who advocated a tougher line on Iran in the talks. It also is becoming increasingly clear that Iran\u2019s demands for full-scale sanctions relief will be accommodated by Malley and his team.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Mr. Malley is forcing out those who disagree with him. With the recent departure of the deputy special envoy for Iran, Richard Nephew, who was reportedly forced out for advocating a tougher posture against the regime, it is time for Mr. Malley to appear before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to answer important questions,&#8221; the lawmakers wrote, adding that Trump administration&#8217;s Iran envoy Brian Hook repeatedly briefed Congress during his tenure in the position.<\/p>\n<p>Though the terms of a new deal with Iran have remained secret, many GOP leaders and outside experts expect the Biden administration to ink a deal that is weaker than the original accord. This would include billions of dollars in sanctions relief for Iran in exchange for minor restrictions on its nuclear program, which has grown significantly in just the past year. The State Department <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/iran-weeks-away-from-having-fuel-to-power-atomic-bomb-state-department-warns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">estimates<\/a> that Iran is just weeks away from having enough nuclear materials to power an atomic bomb.<\/p>\n<p>Tenney and her colleagues want answers to several key questions surrounding the negotiations, including: &#8220;Why are Department officials being forced off the negotiating team? What is the Administration\u2019s current posture on sanctions relief to Iran? Why are key sanctions on Iran\u2019s energy sector not being fully enforced? What is the status of Iran\u2019s nuclear program and increasing uranium enrichment?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers are referring to the Biden administration\u2019s decision to not enforce sanctions on Iran\u2019s illicit oil trade, which has skyrocketed over the past year. They see the Biden administration as turning a blind eye to enforcement in order to generate good will with Iran.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The administration\u2019s enthusiasm for returning to the nuclear deal despite Iran\u2019s escalation and intransigence is a massive miscalculation that is diminishing deterrence and weakening our leverage in negotiations,&#8221; the lawmakers wrote.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>National Security Robert Malley has not briefed Congress a single time since starting talks with Tehran  US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley (Getty Images) &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1271067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1271067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1271067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1271067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1271067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1271067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1271067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}