WASHINGTON — Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal is flaring over revelations of a secret side agreement involving Iranian inspections. But House Democrats are shrugging off the report and claiming they have the votes to back up Obama anyway.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday on a previously undisclosed side deal between Iran and the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency that would allow Tehran to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms.

The revelation, based on a document seen by the AP, newly riled Republican lawmakers who have been severely critical of the broader agreement to limit Iran’s future nuclear programs, signed by the Obama administration, Iran and five world powers in July. Those critics have complained that the wider deal is unwisely built on trust of the Iranians, while the administration has insisted it depends on reliable inspections.

“President Obama boasts his deal includes ‘unprecedented verification.’ He claims it’s not built on trust,” said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. “But the administration’s briefings on these side deals have been totally insufficient — and it still isn’t clear whether anyone at the White House has seen the final documents.”

Said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif.: “International inspections should be done by international inspectors. Period.”

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi questioned the significance of the revelation, noting it relates to investigations of past military work, not nuclear dealings going forward.

And the California Democrat asserted that House Democrats have the votes to uphold any Obama veto of a congressional resolution disapproving of the Iran agreement. Congress will vote next month on such a resolution, but if it is approved Obama has pledged to veto it.