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\n

Lawmakers of both parties questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff Monday in the first broad congressional briefings on President Donald Trump\u2019s Iran deal.<\/p>\n

While Democrats asked some of the sharpest questions, participants in an afternoon conference call with House members said, Rep. Darrell Issa<\/a> (R-Calif.) at one point pressed the administration officials on the fate of Iran\u2019s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium.<\/p>\n

According to two people granted anonymity to disclose the private remarks, Witkoff and Rubio repeated assurances the administration has privately made to select lawmakers in prior briefings \u2014 that the goal is to negotiate a final deal that would prohibit Iran from keeping its highly enriched uranium.<\/p>\n

The memorandum of understanding Trump signed earlier this month, they said, was meant to launch those negotiations. Witkoff, the people said, added that the technical team involved in that part of the talks was traveling from Switzerland to Qatar, where talks between the U.S. and Iran are set to happen Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Democrats, meanwhile, pushed the administration for more details on what financial benefits Iran could reap under the memorandum \u2014 including proceeds from previously sanctioned oil sales.<\/p>\n

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz<\/a> (D-Fla.) went back and forth with Rubio and Witkoff over the lifting of the oil sanctions, two other people granted anonymity on the House call said. The officials eventually cut off the conversation and ended the call.<\/p>\n

At another point, Rep. Madeleine Dean<\/a> (D-Pa.) raised concerns about Witkoff\u2019s business interests in the Middle East as he\u2019s negotiating with Iran, prompting a sharp defense from Rubio, those people said.<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer<\/a> asked Rubio and Witkoff about the oil sanctions during a separate all-senators call Monday, saying in a statement afterward that they \u201cconfirmed to me that Iran will reap billions in oil revenue while retaining dangerous leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is the administration\u2019s defense behind closed doors, Secretary Rubio should make it under oath, in public, before the Foreign Relations Committee,\u201d Schumer added, calling the briefing \u201cdelayed, deficient, and devoid of details.\u201d<\/p>\n

An administration official granted anonymity to speak candidly countered on Schumer\u2019s characterization, noting that he had previously gotten a briefing of the deal as part of a group of top leaders engaged on national security matters. Schumer, the official said, had the opportunity to ask multiple follow-up questions on the Senate call.<\/p>\n

A separate group of White House officials briefed top congressional leaders and key committee chairs in a classified briefing in the Capitol later Monday.<\/p>\n

The administration has faced bipartisan skepticism over multiple provisions of the memorandum of understanding \u2014 particularly the lifting of oil sanctions and a $300 billion reconstruction fund that many Senate Republicans fear will help fuel Iran\u2019s military and regional proxies.<\/p>\n

Rubio and Witkoff sought to ease concerns about the slow reopening of the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 the critical trade route whose closure has sparked higher fuel and fertilizer costs. Both officials said more mine removal is required, and Witkoff indicated that Iran broke the terms of the Trump-signed deal by launching a drone attack on a passing ship over the weekend.<\/p>\n

They also sought to assure lawmakers that Iran has received no money under the memorandum \u2014 especially not directly from American sources. Administration officials have previously pledged in smaller briefings that the reconstruction fund won\u2019t include U.S. funds.<\/p>\n

Sen. Steve Daines<\/a> (R-Mont.) called the Senate briefing a “productive conversation\u201d but said \u201cmuch of what I heard today is similar to what I heard last week\u201d during a dinner at Vice President JD Vance\u2019s residence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers of both parties questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff Monday in the first broad congressional briefings on President Donald Trump\u2019s Iran deal. While Democrats asked some of the sharpest questions, participants in an afternoon conference call with House members said, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) at one point […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}