This summer, as Congress has weighed the nuclear deal struck between President Obama and Iran, much of the debate has focused on secret side agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Both the White House and the IAEA have sought to reassure the public on this issue, explaining that such side deals between IAEA and the nations it oversees are common. The terms of these agreements, which govern the details of inspections and other technical matters, are rarely made public – and in fact, even members of the Obama administration do not seem to have seen the actual documents involved in these side-agreements.