The FBI is investigating the lead U.S. negotiator in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal for mishandling classified documents, signaling to some observers that a new agreement between the U.S. and Iran is off the table for now.
Rob Malley, who was President Biden’s special envoy for Iran, is on unpaid leave and has had his security clearance suspended, according to a report by news website Semafor. Malley’s post is currently occupied by Acting Special Envoy Abram Paley.
“I have been informed that my security clearance is under review. I have not been provided any further information, but I expect the investigation to be resolved favorably and soon. In the meantime, I am on leave,” Malley said when the news of the investigation broke on June 29, according to Reuters.
The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul (R-TX), sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on June 30, demanding more information underlying the investigation.
“Media reports indicate that Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, was placed on unpaid leave after his security clearance was suspended earlier this year amidst an investigation into potential mishandling of classified documents,” McCaul wrote. “These reports raise serious concerns both regarding Malley’s conduct and whether the State Department misled Congress and the American public.”
“Given the gravity of the situation, it is imperative that the Department expeditiously provide a full and transparent accounting of the circumstances surrounding Special Envoy Malley’s clearance suspension and investigation and the Department’s statements to Congress regarding Special Envoy Malley,” McCaul asserted in the letter.
The State Department has thus far refused to acquiesce to McCaul’s demands.
“The Department is not in a position to provide further documents or information related to this personnel-security clearance matter,” the State Department wrote in a letter to McCaul, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
Malley’s removal has raised questions about what it means for the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over a number of matters, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the release of Americans held there.
A report by Al-Monitor suggested that Malley’s removal from the negotiations scene puts an end to attempts at reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal.
IRNA, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, greeted Malley’s apparent ouster as a positive development that could signal the U.S. is more willing to compromise with Iran.
“Changing Robert Malley strengthens the possibility that the US government has taken steps to limit the activities of certain figures in order to reach deals with Tehran,” IRNA said, according to the Al-Monitor report.
Iran, another news outlet affiliated with the Iranian government, said that “amid reports of breakthroughs in indirect negotiations between Iran and the West regarding the lifting of sanctions, alterations in the American negotiating team were not far from expectations,” Al-Monitor reported.
Those indirect negotiations, revealed in June, were facilitated through Oman, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Malley had several in-person meetings with Iran’s United Nations ambassador Amir Saeed Iravani, according to the Al-Monitor report. In these meetings, Malley reportedly revealed that he was under pressure from Iranians in the U.S. and Republicans who opposed a new Iran deal.
The Dallas Express reached out to Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman McCaul’s office for further information about the nature of the alleged mishandled documents and to whom they may have been revealed.
McLaurine Pinover, the deputy communications director, replied with a statement from McCaul concerning the State Department’s response.
“This is an absolutely unacceptable response. Congress deserves to know exactly why the U.S. Special Envoy to Iran had his security clearance suspended, was then suspended from his position, and now, according to news reports, is being investigated by the FBI.
“This is a person whose mission is to negotiate with the Islamic Republic of Iran — nothing could be more serious than this. I will be following up with the State Department to get a classified briefing next week,” McCaul said in the statement provided to The Dallas Express.
