WASHINGTON: A powerful Republican in the US House of Representatives has asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken for details about an investigation into the security clearance of the US envoy for Iran, amid reports he may have mishandled classified documents.

Citing media reports, Michael McCaul, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to Blinken on Friday, asking why the State Department’s special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, was placed on unpaid leave after his security clearance was suspended earlier this year to investigate the alleged mishandling of classified documents.