Iran was not able to utilize the presence of US envoy Robert Malley to resolve its nuclear dispute with the United States, a former Iranian diplomat said Monday.

Iran International broke the news June 29 that US special envoy Robert Malley was suspended, and his security clearance status was under investigation.

Javid Qorbanoghli, a former Iranian diplomat was quoted as saying by Entekhab website in Tehran that Malley could have helped Iran resolve the nuclear issue. He added that Malley “was on our side” and his talks during secret meetings with Iran’s UN ambassador Saeed Iravani in New York had made progress.

“Malley, as the top person in this [nuclear] file and chief [US] negotiator was on our side, and in talks with Iravani took steps to free frozen assets [in exchange] for prisoners and…”

The former diplomat said that Israel was angry and alleged that it “succeeded to separate Malley from this file,” with using one security issue.

From the time Malley was appointed as special envoy by President Joe Biden in early 2021, many observers said that he was sympathetic toward the Islamic Republic and not a suitable choice. Critics noted his role in engineering the 2015 JCPOA agreement that they believed was advantageous to Iran, not the United States.

Apparently, Malley was suspended as early as the beginning of May, but the State Department did not share the information with Congress. Lat week, several lawmakers began objecting to lack of candor by the administration. 

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul sent a letter demanding more information from the White House about Malley’s status.