White House acknowledges ‘side’ deals between Iran, IAEA

National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Wednesday acknowledged the existence of so-called “side” agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Rice said the deals involve Iran accounting for past military uses of its nuclear program, but rejected GOP assertions that this represented “secret” side deals to the Iranian nuclear agreement.

Rice said the documents between Iran and the IAEA are not public, but the administration has been informed on their contents and will share details with members of Congress in a classified briefing on Capitol Hill.

“We’re satisfied with them and we will share the contents of those briefings in full in a classified session with the Congress,” she told reporters. “So there's nothing in that regard that we know that they won't know.”

Congress is reviewing the Iran nuclear deal, which lifts sanctions on Tehran in exchange for its concessions on its nuclear program.

She said it was “no secret” that Iran and the IAEA were negotiating an agreement on possible military-related nuclear activities.

She said this had always “been an issue between Iran and the IAEA” and was a sticking point in the talks.

Obama’s top national security adviser said all components of the deal the U.S. negotiated have been shared with Congress.