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WASHINGTON, July 1 (Reuters) - A powerful Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives has asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken for details about an investigation into the security clearance of the U.S. envoy for Iran, amid reports he may have mishandled classified documents. Citing media reports, Michael McCaul, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to Blinken on Friday, asking why the State Department's special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, was placed on unpaid leave after his security clearance was suspended earlier this year to investigate the alleged mishandling of classified documents. "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 wrote Blinken in a letter posted on the panel's website. On Thursday, Malley told Reuters: "I have been informed that my security clearance is under review. Appointed soon after Democratic President Joe Biden took office in 2021, Malley had the task of trying to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Michael McCaul, Blinken, Rob Malley, Malley, McCaul, Joe Biden, Donald Trump's, Iran Abram Paley, Brett McGurk, Valerie Volcovici, Arshad Mohammed, William Mallard Organizations: Republican, U.S . House, U.S, Foreign Affairs, State, State Department, Reuters, Democratic, reimposed, Iranian, National Security, Thomson Locations: U.S, Iran, reimposed U.S, Tehran, United States, East, North, Washington, Saint Paul , Minnesota

WASHINGTON/DUBAI, June 8 (Reuters) - The United States and Iran on Thursday both denied a report that they were nearing an interim deal under which Tehran would curb its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. U.S. and European officials have been searching for ways to curb Tehran's nuclear program since the breakdown of indirect U.S.-Iranian talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. That accord, aimed at keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, required Tehran to accept restrictions on its nuclear program and more extensive U.N. inspections in exchange for an end to U.N., U.S. and EU sanctions. One possible solution has been an interim deal under which Iran would accept fewer limits on its nuclear program in return for more modest sanctions relief than under the 2015 pact. The 2015 deal, which capped Iran's uranium enrichment at 3.67%, was abandoned in 2018 by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who reimposed U.S. sanctions to choke Iran's oil exports.

Persons: Iran Rob Malley, Amir Saeid Iravani, Malley, Irvani, Donald Trump, Trevor Hunnicutt, Parisa, Arshad Mohammed, Chris Reese, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: White House National Security Council, United Nations, White House, U.S, State Department, Reuters, Iranian, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, DUBAI, United States, Iran, Tehran, London, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, U.N, Washington, Dubai

☆ Iran presents its first hypersonic ballistic missile, state media reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, June 6 (Reuters) - Iran presented what officials described as its first domestically-made hypersonic ballistic missile on Tuesday, the official IRNA news agency reported, an announcement likely to heighten Western concerns about Tehran's missile capabilities. "The precision-guided Fattah hypersonic missile has a range of 1,400 km and it is capable of penetrating all defence shields," Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards' aerospace force, was quoted as saying by Iranian state media. Last year, the Islamic Republic said it had built a hypersonic ballistic missile which can manoeuvre in and out of the atmosphere. "It can bypass the most advanced anti-ballistic missile systems of the United States and the Zionist regime, including Israel's Iron Dome," Iran's state TV said. Despite U.S. and European opposition, the Islamic Republic has said it will further develop its defensive missile programme.

Persons: Ebrahim Rahisi, Donald Trump's, Trump, Joe Biden's, Parisa, Andrew Heavens, Angus MacSwan, Christina Fincher Organizations: Revolutionary Guards Corps, Guards, Zionist, U.S, Trump reimposed, Dubai Newsroom, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Iran, Republic, United States, Islamic Republic, Tehran, U.S, Israel

☆ Iran can make fissile material for a bomb 'in about 12 days' - U.S. official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzWASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Iran could make enough fissile for one nuclear bomb in "about 12 days," a top U.S. Defense Department official said on Tuesday, down from the estimated one year it would have taken while the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was in effect. Back in 2018, when the previous administration decided to leave the JCPOA it would have taken Iran about 12 months to produce one bomb's worth of fissile material. Now it would take about 12 days," Kahl, the third ranking Defense Department official, told lawmakers. U.S. officials have repeatedly estimated Iran's breakout time - how long it would take to acquire the fissile material for one bomb if it decided to - at weeks but have not been as specific as Kahl was. While U.S. officials say Iran has grown closer to producing fissile material they do not believe it has mastered the technology to actually build a bomb.

WASHINGTON/PARIS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - For nearly two years the United States has tried and failed to negotiate a revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal yet Washington and its European allies refuse to close the door to diplomacy. Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action under which Tehran reined in its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions. A U.S. intelligence estimate disclosed in late 2007 assessed with high confidence that Iran was working to develop nuclear weapons until the fall of 2003, when it halted the weapons work. "We will continue with the pressure while keeping the door open for a return to diplomacy," U.S. special envoy for Iran Robert Malley told reporters in Paris last month, adding that if Iran crossed "a new threshold in its nuclear program, obviously the response will be different." Even if the 2015 nuclear deal cannot be resurrected, the senior Biden administration official said other diplomatic solutions might be possible.

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