Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has kept Congress away from the Western nuclear agreement with Iran.

House members have asserted that the Obama administration refused to release details of the Iranian nuclear agreement with the so-called P5+1 in November 2013.

The lawmakers said they were required to apply for permission to view the document at an unidentified intelligence agency.

“If this is such a great deal and so good for peace and diplomacy in our time why is it held in secret?” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen asked.

At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Jan. 28, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen said the administration was placing obstacles to Congress.

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, the chair of the subcommittee on the Middle East, said the P5+1 accord could be viewed at a “super-secret location, a cone of silence.”

“If the administration is proud of it, I think they should highlight it,” Ms. Ros-Lehtinen said.

The committee was told that the administration was playing down Western
concessions to Iran, including the lifting of sanctions. Committee chairman
Rep. Ed Royce said Iran, even if it fully complied with the agreement, would
be able achieve full nuclear weapons capability within six months.

“Iran will likely still possess the capability to very quickly produce a
nuclear bomb,” Royce said.

In mid-January, the White House released a summary of the nuclear
agreement. Officials acknowledged that most of the details were withheld on
request of the International Atomic Energy Agency, authorized to monitor
Teheran’s nuclear program.

“I still don’t know why it’s not [released],” Rep. Ted Poe, a Texas
Republican, said. “Iran is the mischief maker in the Middle East.”

Witnesses raised questions regarding the released portions of the
Iranian accord. They said IAEA would not have access to Iranian military
sites where most nuclear weapons research was believed conducted.

“I’m left with the impression the administration doesn’t really
understand what it has negotiated,” Gregory Jones, a researcher at the
Nonproliferation Policy Education Center,” said.

  House Foreign Affairs Committee, Lawmakers want to know why the White House is keeping details of Iran deal secret, Rep. Ed Royce, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Rep. Ted Poe