John Kerry's Confident the IAEA Can Handle Iran, But Congress Isn't Buying It

"Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry conceded that the U.S. did not possess the text of the agreement that allows the International Atomic Energy Association to inspect Parchin, an Iranian military site suspected of hosting nuclear weapons development, and to answer broader unresolved questions about possible efforts by Iran to create nuclear weapons...

Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, testifying alongside Kerry, told lawmakers that it is 'customary confidentiality' for the IAEA to keep documents pertaining to investigations private.

Kerry and Moniz's remarks came in response to a question by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who asked the officials to confirm that Iran will be responsible for providing samples from Parchin to the IAEA to test for traces of nuclear activity. 'Because if that is true, that would be the equivalent of the fox guarding the chicken coop,' he said. Kerry declined to answer Menendez's question directly in the public hearing...

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) first raised the issue earlier this week after visiting the IAEA in Vienna and confirming that they would not be privy to the text of the agreement with Iran.

'Secretary Kerry approved the nuclear deal with Iran without even reading the entire agreement,' Pompeo said Wednesday after exiting a classified briefing with Kerry and two other Obama administration officials. 'It is essential for Secretary Kerry to know what's in the deal, and it is essential for the U.S. Congress to know what's in this deal. We owe it to the American people to read the full deal and then make the right decision based on all the facts...'

During Thursday's hearing, lawmakers pounced on Kerry and Moniz for accepting a limited U.S. involvement in IAEA's investigation. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) pointed to the fact that the U.S. funds a quarter of the watchdog's budget and asked why Americans are banned from serving as IAEA inspectors in Iran. Kerry noted that the absence of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Iran is the primary reason Iran bans American inspectors from its nuclear sites..."