Mystery deepens as Biden’s Iran envoy-in-limbo Malley takes Princeton teaching job
Princeton University announced this week that a top Biden administration official who is reportedly being investigated on suspicion of mishandling confidential information will be teaching foreign policy courses.
Robert Malley was the chief Iran envoy for the Obama administration. Princeton’s decision to hire him outraged Republicans, who claim they still don’t know why his security clearance had been suspended earlier this summer. The longtime Democratic diplomat played a major role in the Obama administration’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal and led President Biden’s efforts to revive this pact.
His abrupt disappearance from Washington’s foreign policy scene this spring raised a number of questions. Some prominent Republicans wondered publicly if Mr. Malley had committed treason for sharing sensitive information to Iran or another adversary.
Princeton University and Mr. Malley released a joint press release on Tuesday, as the administration’s Iran policy is in flux.
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Malley stated, “I am grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside the next generation of public service professionals at the School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University while I am on leave.” “I am looking forward to my time in Princeton and to returning to government service at a later date.”
Princeton announced that Mr. Malley, in addition to teaching the fall foreign policy course, will also teach spring courses on “some combination” of diplomacy and negotiation as well as foreign policy.
Amaney Jamal said that Rob Malley’s extensive diplomatic experience and his interactions with several presidential administrations would be of great value to our students. “I’m very pleased to welcome him to our school and I look forward to his contribution.”
Republicans responded with anger and confusion. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican senator and Princeton alumnus who is a Texas Republican, claimed that he, along with other legislators, did not know the full details of the Malley probe.
“Pitiful. Cruz wrote in a tweet that his alma mater had just been promoted to professor. “Rob Malley is such a pro Iran radical that he has been FIRED by Biden [administration] and had his security clearance stripped (the details remain hidden).
Even in classified briefings, sources from Congress told The Washington Times that, as of late last month, the State Department had given very few answers to The Washington Times about Mr. Malley’s suspension and the circumstances surrounding it.
When asked Wednesday if Mr. Malley’s teaching position meant that his status as an envoy had changed, Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson for the State Department told reporters: “Mr. Malley is still on leave and I have no other information on the situation.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Mr. Malley’s security clearance was suspended on April 22. He continued to give public interviews regarding Iran policy until at least late may. Abram Paley has handled the administration’s Iran policies since Mr. Malley left.
Mr. Malley was a key architect of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA) of the Obama era, which limited Iran’s nuclear programs in exchange for the removal of certain economic sanctions. In 2018, President Trump pulled out the U.S. from that agreement.
Getting desperate?
Mr. Biden appointed Mr. Malley as the leader of the effort to revive the JCPOA. Negotiations collapsed after nearly two years due to Iran’s brutal crackdown against domestic protesters and its support of Russia in Ukraine.
Iranian officials are seeking assurances that a new administration will not scrap any deal if they disagree with the Iran policy of Mr. Biden. U.S. negotiators claim they cannot provide that guarantee.
Malley met with the Iranian ambassador to the U.N. multiple times this year. This behind-the scenes work has raised concerns about any sensitive information he might have disclosed during private conversations.
House Republicans claim that the circumstances leading to the suspension of Malley’s clearance for security could be grave. Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas’s chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said that last month, leaking classified information to foreign enemies would be a serious offense.
McCaul said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”, July 16, that he couldn’t express how important the issue was. “If he somehow — worst case scenario — transferred information and secrets to a foreign country adversary, then I would consider it treason,” argued McCaul.
Mr. Malley said to Politico on the 29th of June that he expected the situation to be “resolved favorably and quickly,” even though his plans to teach at Princeton appear to indicate otherwise, particularly given the commitment by the university to have Mr. Malley continue to teach through the spring semester.
There are signs of progress on the diplomatic front between Iran and the United States despite Mr. Malley’s absence. Last week, the two countries announced an agreement that would release five American citizens who were imprisoned by Iran. The U.S. will release about $6 billion of frozen Iranian assets in exchange. The money can only be spent on approved items such as food, medicine and other approved expenditures.
Republicans, including the leading presidential candidates, have blasted this proposed deal.
Mr. Biden has “just agreed” to pay $6 billion in ransom money to the Iranian dictatorship to exchange hostages. Trump stated Thursday that this is another Biden surrender, and an additional humiliation of America on the international stage. “But worse still, this decision is extremely dangerous.”
Officials at the White House have denied the notion that the U.S. pays “ransom” to the prisoners. They claim that the U.S. does not spend taxpayer dollars on this deal, and Tehran has been granted access to their own frozen accounts for humanitarian and food purposes only.
Uncertain is whether this deal will lead to an broader diplomatic breakthrough. Analysts say that the administration may become more desperate to reach a deal, as Mr. Biden’s reelection bid kicks off.
Behnam B. Taleblu, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said: “It’s obvious that, while [Mr. Malley] may be out of the picture for the time being, the political and philosophical imperatives driving Biden’s Iran Policy remain the same.”
He told The Washington Times that “as the election season gets into high gear with or without Malley the administration will try to avert nuclear crisis at any cost, which could just mean empowering Tehran during a time where the regime needs aggressive counter-attacks on all fronts.”
