US Special Envoy for Iran ‘on Leave’

US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley said on Thursday his security clearance is under review, saying that he expects the investigation to end “favorably and soon” and in the meantime he was on leave.
“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,” Malley told Reuters, confirming an earlier Axios report.
“In the meantime, I am on leave,” he added.
Earlier, US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said Malley was on leave but did not say why or for how long, saying Abram Paley was filling in on an acting basis.
“Rob Malley is on leave and Abram Paley is serving as acting Special Envoy for Iran and leading the department’s work in this area,” Miller told Reuters in an email. 
CNN reported Malley was placed on leave without pay on Thursday, which occurred after his security clearance was suspended earlier this year amid an investigation into his handling of classified material.
Appointed soon after US President Joe Biden took office in 2021, Malley had the task of trying to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal after then-President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to abandon the pact and reimpose US sanctions on Tehran.
He helped craft the 2015 nuclear deal and, earlier in his career, was deeply engaged in former President Bill Clinton’s failed 2000 effort to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Under the 2015 deal, Iran curbed its nuclear program in return for broad sanctions relief. 
Having failed to revive the deal, the United States has held talks with Iran to try to ease tensions by sketching out steps that could limit the Iranian nuclear program, release some detained US citizens and unfreeze some Iranian assets abroad, western officials said earlier this month.