Amid reports of his mishandling of classified documents, US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul asked Secretary of State Anthony Blinken for details on an investigation into the security clearance of US envoy to Iran Robert Malley.
And according to media reports, Republican Michael McCaul sent a letter to Blinken (Friday), asking him why the State Department envoy to Iran was granted unpaid leave after suspending his security clearance earlier to investigate allegations of his mishandling of classified documents.
The committee had asked Mali to testify at a hearing about the Foreign Ministry’s negotiations with Iran, but said the ministry had replied that the envoy could not testify due to the illness of a close family member.
“Given the seriousness of the situation, it is imperative that the Department urgently provide a full and transparent account of the circumstances surrounding Special Envoy Mali’s suspension, as well as investigations and Department statements to Congress relating to the Special Envoy,” McCaul wrote in his letter, which was posted on the committee’s website.
Mali told Reuters last Thursday: “I have been informed that my security clearance is under review. I did not get any other information, but I expect the investigation to end well soon. At the moment, I am on vacation.
Mali was appointed shortly after President Joe Biden assumed power in 2021, and took on the task of trying to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal after former President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to withdraw from the agreement and reimpose sanctions on Tehran. He contributed to drafting the nuclear agreement in 2015, and played a major role in former President Bill Clinton’s attempt in 2000 to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, but the attempt failed.
