"I have no specific knowledge of a plan by Iran to actually destroy us," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says • International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano to meet with members of Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has taken heavy flak for comments he made about Iran last week before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. When asked last Tuesday about the frequent "Death to America" chants heard at Iranian regime-backed rallies in Iran, Kerry said, "I think [the Iranian regime has] a policy of opposition to us and of great enmity, but I have no specific knowledge of a plan by Iran to actually destroy us."

Meanwhile, the Middle East Media Research Institute published an article on Thursday that provides a critical look at the nuclear deal reached last month between world powers and Iran. "If there is any area in the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] where prohibitions should be absolute, it should be the section regarding the development of nuclear weapons since the reason for the whole agreement is -- as per statements by President Obama and Secretary Kerry -- to prevent nuclear weapons development," the article said. "However, the JCPOA provides alternatives even to this provision.

"However, the above-mentioned provisions prohibiting any activity with systems suitable for nuclear weapons disappear if the Joint Commission approves the activities for 'non-nuclear purposes' and provided that they are 'subject to monitoring.' There are many ways to take advantage of this loophole: for example, even if the Joint Commission declares that a certain activity is subject to monitoring, that does not necessarily mean that Iran will allow the IAEA to monitor said site if it 'interferes with Iranian military or other national security activities.'"

Also, Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens wrote last week, "The CIA now admits that Syria retains significant quantities of its deadliest chemical weapons. When Mr. Obama announced the Syria deal, he warned that he would use military force in the event that Mr. Assad failed to honor his promises. The threat was hollow then. It is laughable now. What ties the Syrian sham to the Iranian one is an American president bent on conjuring political illusions at home at the expense of strategic facts abroad, his weakness apparent to everyone but himself."

This coming Wednesday, senators who accuse the Obama administration of making secret deals with Iran that go beyond the publicly known nuclear pact will get a chance to question the head of the U.N. agency said to be linked to the alleged clandestine documents.