White House denies any link between the two events, but critics say Obama agreed to pay a ransom...
The White House secretly sent $400 million in cash to Iran around the time that four American detained in Tehran were released in January, the Wall Street Journal quoted US and European officials as saying on Wednesday.
The cash was part of a $1.7 billion settlement that the US agreed to pay over a longstanding disagreement over an arms deal signed before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and never implemented.
The settlement coincided with the official implementation of the nuclear agreement with Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The $400 million were secretly transported to Iran in an unmarked cargo plane, the newspaper said. The money reportedly came from the Dutch and Swiss central banks and was in non-US currency.
The Obama administration denied any link between the payment and the prisoners' release. “As we’ve made clear, the negotiations over the settlement of an outstanding claim…were completely separate from the discussions about returning our American citizens home,” the Journal quoted State Department spokesman John Kirby as saying. “Not only were the two negotiations separate, they were conducted by different teams on each side, including, in the case of The Hague claims, by technical experts involved in these negotiations for many years."
In January, Secretary of State John Kerry sounded a positive note about the prisoners'' release, suggesting it was a sign of a diplomatic thaw in the wake of the nuclear deal.
Despite the denial of any connection between the money and the release, critics have already begun to lambaste the Obama administration. Republican Senator Tom Cotton said the State Department had paid “a $1.7 billion ransom to the ayatollahs for US hostages. This break with longstanding US policy put a price on the head of Americans, and has led Iran to continue its illegal seizures.”
Iranian intelligence has detained two Iranian-Americans and dual nationals from other Western countries since the cash was sent....http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/121712-160803-secret-us-payment-to-iran-coincided-with-prisoners-release-report
3/8/16
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Related:
The White House secretly sent $400 million in cash to Iran around the time that four American detained in Tehran were released in January, the Wall Street Journal quoted US and European officials as saying on Wednesday.
The cash was part of a $1.7 billion settlement that the US agreed to pay over a longstanding disagreement over an arms deal signed before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and never implemented.
The settlement coincided with the official implementation of the nuclear agreement with Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The $400 million were secretly transported to Iran in an unmarked cargo plane, the newspaper said. The money reportedly came from the Dutch and Swiss central banks and was in non-US currency.
The Obama administration denied any link between the payment and the prisoners' release. “As we’ve made clear, the negotiations over the settlement of an outstanding claim…were completely separate from the discussions about returning our American citizens home,” the Journal quoted State Department spokesman John Kirby as saying. “Not only were the two negotiations separate, they were conducted by different teams on each side, including, in the case of The Hague claims, by technical experts involved in these negotiations for many years."
In January, Secretary of State John Kerry sounded a positive note about the prisoners'' release, suggesting it was a sign of a diplomatic thaw in the wake of the nuclear deal.
Despite the denial of any connection between the money and the release, critics have already begun to lambaste the Obama administration. Republican Senator Tom Cotton said the State Department had paid “a $1.7 billion ransom to the ayatollahs for US hostages. This break with longstanding US policy put a price on the head of Americans, and has led Iran to continue its illegal seizures.”
Iranian intelligence has detained two Iranian-Americans and dual nationals from other Western countries since the cash was sent....http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/121712-160803-secret-us-payment-to-iran-coincided-with-prisoners-release-report
3/8/16
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Related:
Iran Releases Washington Post Reporter and 3 Other Americans
Iran Frees 4 Iranian-American Prisoners ...
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