Republican lawmaker blasts State Dept response on US envoy for Iran

FILE PHOTO: Rep. Michael McCaul speaks when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on The Biden Administration's Priorities for U.S. Foreign Policy on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., March 10, 2021. Ken Cedeno/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

(Reuters) - A senior U.S. Republican lawmaker criticized as "absolutely unacceptable" a State Department response on Tuesday to his inquiry about why the U.S. special envoy for Iran's security clearance was under review.

Michael McCaul, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on foreign affairs, wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on June 30 seeking "a full and transparent accounting" about an investigation into the envoy, Rob Malley.