The Biden administration’s top envoy on the Iran file, Robert Malley, is on leave amid an investigation into his security clearance. In a statement to Axios today, Malley confirmed that his clearance is being reviewed.
“I have been informed that my security clearance is under review. I have not been provided any further information, but I expect the investigation to be resolved favorably and soon,” he told Axios’s Barak Ravid. “In the meantime, I am on leave.”
Iran International, an anti-regime outlet, reported today that Malley had stepped back from his daily duties as the department’s lead envoy on Iran-related issues.
In response to questions from various outlets, including National Review, department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed this afternoon that Malley is on leave, and his deputy, Abram Paley, is serving as acting special envoy for Iran. The department didn’t respond to questions about Malley’s security clearance, though.
Malley’s absence comes at a delicate time for the Biden administration’s drive to come to an agreement with Iran. Recent reports indicate that U.S. officials are close to reaching an informal agreement with their Iranian counterparts, which would see Tehran freeze its enrichment of uranium and release U.S. hostages in exchange for U.S. steps to unwind certain sanctions.
Malley is a political lightning rod and the public face of a Biden administration diplomatic effort that’s attracted bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill.
The State Department did not answer National Review’s questions about when the investigation into Malley began. But he gave an interview to NPR that aired on May 30, though he was absent from a classified Senate briefing on Iran that took place earlier that month. The Associated Press reported today that State Department officials explained his absence by saying Malley was on “extended personal leave” and implied that it was related to a family health issue.
A senior congressional foreign-policy aide accused the Biden administration of lying about Malley’s status for months. “They told Congress that Malley was on leave, because if they told the truth it would give away the game,” the aide said. “Malley has been dialoguing with Iran for years, refusing to enforce sanctions, letting Iran get within reach of nukes, attacking everyone who criticized Iranian terrorism — Europe, Saudi Arabia, Israel — and after all that something happened that got his security clearance suspended. So of course they lied.”
During an event at the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied the reports about a likely agreement with Iran, saying that “no agreement [is] in the offing.”