Only U.S. Official Who Saw The Side Deals Between Iran And The IAEA Admits That She Only Saw The 'Rough Drafts'

Wendy Sherman, the State Department's No. 3 official, with Secretary of State John Kerry last weekend after the deal with Iran. Credit US State Department

The Hill: Obama negotiator says she didn't see final Iran 'side deals'

The only Obama administration official to view confidential "side deals" between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) admitted Wednesday she and her team have only seen rough drafts.

"I didn't see the final documents. I saw the provisional documents, as did my experts," said Wendy Sherman, a lead U.S. negotiator for the deal, at a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

Sherman, undersecretary of State for political affairs, said she was only allowed to see the confidential deals "in the middle of the negotiation" when the IAEA "wanted to go over with some of our experts the technical details."

She maintained the deals — which focus on with Iran's prior work on a bomb and access to Iran's Parchin military site — are still confidential and can't be submitted to Congress.

WNU Editor: As I have said many times before .... with each passing day more details on how the Iran nuclear deal was done are being released, and what we are learning should raise concerns everywhere. The reliance on the IAEA to be solely responsible for inspections also disturbs me. I have worked for the UN (4 years for ICAO), and from that vantage point and experience I learned very quickly on how the UN works. When disputes arise .... they work very slowly to resolve it, they keep everything confidential (and for as long as possible), and .... more to the point .... will try their best to accommodate the opposite side. This procedure may work well for minor issues, but this culture and mindset is the worst thing to have when it comes to nuclear deals with Iran .... a nation that has been anything but accommodating and open on their nuclear program. US Under-secretary of State for Political Affairs Sherman's admission is a red flag .... and being someone who has experience with how the UN works she should have known better .... but is only voicing it now.