How Much Money Did Obama Give Iran In The Middle Of The Night
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C-SPAN, "State Department on $400 Million to Iran as 'Leverage,'" August 18, 2016
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The Obama administration used a $400 million cash payment as leverage to ensure that Iran released four Americans who were being held there as prisoners. The revelation led some Republicans to accuse the Obama administration of paying ransom—something the administration denied.[1] [2]
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. officials wouldn't let Iranians take control of the money until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying four freed Americans departed from Tehran on Jan. 17. Once that happened, an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to bring the cash home from a Geneva airport that day."[1] [2]
HIGHLIGHTS
The timing of the cash payment, which occurred the same weekend the nuclear deal with Iran was formally implemented, raised suspicions that the Obama administration paid ransom to secure the release of the four Americans. On August 18, 2016, when asked about the exchange, State Department spokesman John Kirby said, "We deliberately leveraged that moment to finalize these outstanding issues nearly simultaneously. With concerns that Iran may renege on the prisoner release, given unnecessary delays regarding persons in Iran who could not be located as well as, to be quite honest, mutual mistrust between Iran and the United States, we of course sought to retain maximum leverage until after American citizens were released. That was our top priority." He added that the U.S. does not pay ransom.[3]
The payment was part of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a dispute over $400 million that Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi paid to the U.S. in 1979 "for military parts that were never delivered because of the Islamic revolution that toppled him." Although the payment and the return of the four Americans occurred in January 2016, the details of the payment did not receive attention until The Wall Street Journal published an article on August 3, 2016, explaining that the administration sent "[w]ooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies" to Iran "on an unmarked cargo plane" just before Americans Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmati, Saeed Abedini, and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari were released from an Iranian prison. The Obama administration also released seven Iran nationals and "agreed to drop the names of 14 Iranian nationals it has been seeking from the watch list of Interpol, the international police agency."[4] [2]
On September 6, 2016, congressional officials briefed by the U.S. State, Treasury, and Justice departments told The Wall Street Journal that the Obama administration sent two additional shipments of cash in a cargo plane to Iran after sending an initial $400 million cash payment. The second and third payments were made in Swiss francs, euros, and other currencies on January 22, 2016, and February 5, 2016. According to The Wall Street Journal, "The Obama administration previously had refused to disclose the mechanics of the $1.7 billion settlement, despite repeated calls from U.S. lawmakers. The State Department announced the settlement on Jan. 17 but didn't brief Congress that the entire amount had been paid in cash."[5]
Background
President Barack Obama and senior U.S. officials denied any link between the cash payment and the release of the American hostages, but the Iranians portrayed the payment as ransom. Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi said to state media, "Taking this much money back was in return for the release of the American spies."[4]
After The Wall Street Journal initially reported the details of the $400 million payment on August 3, 2016, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) accused President Obama of paying "a $1.7 billion ransom to the ayatollahs for U.S. hostages." Cotton added, "This break with longstanding U.S. policy put a price on the head of Americans, and has led Iran to continue its illegal seizures [of Americans]." Two Iranian-Americans have been arrested by the Iran's Revolutionary Guard since the cash shipment.[4]
On August 4, 2016, Obama responded to critics who said that the $400 million sent to Iran was a ransom payment. He said, "We do not pay ransom. We didn't here, and we won't in the future. Those families know we have a policy that we don't pay ransom. And the notion that we would somehow start now, in this high-profile way, and announce it to the world, even as we're looking in the faces of other hostage families whose loved ones are being held hostage, and saying to them we don't pay ransom, defies logic." He added that his administration was open about the January 2016 payment, saying, "We announced these payments in January. Many months ago. They were not a secret. It wasn't a secret. We were completely open with everybody about it."[6] However, The Wall Street Journal disputed Obama's claims, writing that although he said the dispute from 1979 was resolved, he did not disclose the $400 million cash payment.[4]
Details of full payment
On August 24, 2016, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters that the Obama administration paid $1.3 billion in interest to Iran on January 19, 2016, two days after the administration sent the initial $400 million in cash to Tehran in an unmarked cargo plane. Trudeau said that she "couldn't say more about the Jan. 19 payments because of diplomatic sensitivities." The administration and Iran agreed that $1.3 billion would cover interest on the $400 million.[7]
The Associated Press reported that the administration sent "13 separate payments of $99,999,999.99 and final payment of about $10 million. There was no explanation for the Treasury Department keeping the individual transactions under $100 million." The money came from the "so-called Judgment Fund," which "is taxpayer money Congress has permanently approved in the event it's needed, allowing the president to bypass direct congressional approval to make a settlement."[7]
On September 6, 2016, congressional officials who were briefed about the timeline and method of payment told The Wall Street Journal that the Obama administration sent the second payment to Iran on January 22, 2016, and the third payment on February 5, 2016. The payments were made in Swiss francs, euros, and other currencies and flown to Geneva, Switzerland, where they were picked up by Iranian cargo planes.[5]
Treasury spokeswoman Dawn Selak explained that the payments were made in Swiss francs, euros, and other currencies because of sanctions placed on Iran. She said, "The form of those principal and interest payments—made in non-U.S. currency, in cash—was necessitated by the effectiveness of U.S. and international sanctions regimes over the last several years in isolating Iran from the international financial system."[5]
House hearing on Iran payments
House Financial Services Committee, "Fueling Terror: The Dangers of Ransom Payments to Iran," September 8, 2016
On September 8, 2016, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing to examine why the Obama administration paid Iran $1.7 billion in cash.[8]
During the hearing Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the committee's chairman, said, "Cash is the currency of terrorism. We paid cash to the world's foremost sponsor of terrorism. And the question is, again, why was that done?"[9]
Paul Ahern, a Treasury Department lawyer, replied that cash was "the most reliable way to ensure that they received the payments in a timely manner." He also said that cash was preferred by the banks involved in the transaction.[9]
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) said Republicans had three goals for the hearing: "to trash the Obama administration, to trash the Iran nuclear deal, and to somehow make them (the administration) look like criminals dropping money in the middle of the night like drug dealers."[10]
Referring to Capuano's comments, Hensarling said, "It is clear that perhaps the Obama administration and certain Democratic members of the House are the only people in America who believe that ransom was not paid."[10]
Democrats on the committee argued that the hearing was a concerted effort by Republicans to discredit President Obama. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said, "I am concerned that this may be a part of the strategy that is being employed by my colleagues on the opposite side of aisle to discredit the president of the United States."[11] Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) led a Democratic walkout during the hearing. Green said, "This is about micro-managing the presidency or, more specifically, about micro-managing President Barack Obama."[10]
Republican response
- On September 7, 2016, Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) introduced HR 5931—the Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act. According to Breitbart, the legislation "has three main objectives: It makes clear that the Obama Administration violated longstanding U.S. policy by releasing prisoners and paying ransom for the return of Americans held hostage by Iran; it prohibits cash payments to Iran—period; and it demands transparency in future settlements to ensure they are not use."[12]
- On September 6, 2016, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced S 3285—the No Ransom Payments Act of 2016—to prevent the Treasury Department from sending payments to Iran until the $1.7 billion is returned. Rubio wrote in an op-ed, "I opposed the nuclear deal with Iran and have fought this administration's endless concessions to the world's foremost state sponsor of terror. Now I'm fighting this outrageous ransom payment by introducing legislation today called the No Ransom Payments Act. My bill would forbid any future ransom payments for hostages. It would require Iran to return the $1.7 billion it received from the Obama administration, and it would forbid any future settlements of Iranian claims until Iran first pays the more than $55 billion awarded by U.S. courts to American victims of Iranian-backed terror, and to the Americans held hostage by Iran in 1979. The bill would also mandate sanctions against Iranians who hold or detain U.S. citizens."[13] [14]
- On September 6, 2016, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) criticized the Obama administration for its decision to pay Iran in cash. Cotton said in a statement, "If this report is confirmed, Americans will face the reality that they live in a world where Iran's terrorist proxies have access to $1.3 billion more in untraceable cash, on top of the $400 million cash payment the administration has already confirmed. It's no wonder that the administration has fought so hard to keep the nature and timing of the cash transfers secret. The payment of cash ransoms to the world's worst state sponsor of terror encourages the hostage-taking of more innocent Americans and fuels Iran's terror plots. It's long past time for the president to stop stonewalling on these ransom payments and start being straight with the American people about the dangerous concessions he's made to the ayatollahs."[15]
- On August 22, 2016, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking him to explain the details of the $400 million payment to Iran. He specifically asked to see the "quarterly financial records for the foreign military sales account at the center of a decades-old arms sale dispute between the U.S. and Iranian governments," according to The Hill. Blunt wrote, "While your agency continues to deny it made a ransom payment to secure the release of American hostages, the facts clearly suggest otherwise. Your apparent dishonesty regarding the timing of the settlement has consequently cast serious doubt on the answers you provided regarding the source of funds that were used to pay off the Iranian regime. ... Given your other misleading statements, I have serious concerns that the $400 million you provided in hard currency to a terrorist regime will also come out of U.S. taxpayers' pockets."[16]
- On August 12, 2016, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking them to explain the circumstances surrounding the $400 million cash payment. Cruz and Lee wrote, "The unusual circumstances surrounding the administration's payment of $400 million to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran have raised serious concerns not only about the propriety of the transaction, but about its legality as well. … If the administration violated the law, then Congress and the American people should be made aware of it so that they can hold the appropriate officials accountable and take whatever steps necessary to strengthen the law and prevent any reoccurrence."[17]
- On August 9, 2016, Republican Sens. Mark Kirk (Ill.), David Perdue (Ga.), and Johnny Isakson (Ga.) sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking for details about the $400 million cash payment. The senators wrote, "We question the timing — concurrent with the release of five American hostages — as well as the method and lack of disclosure of the payment. We are concerned that this payment, along with the swap for seven Iranian prisoners detained in the U.S., has and will continue to encourage further hostage-taking of Americans by Iran." According to The Hill, the senators asked Kerry to explain how the payment "was shipped, why more information was not given to lawmakers, and why the administration agreed to make the payment when Tehran still owes Americans money. They also want to know whether the payment was linked to the release of the American hostages, whether the money will be used to support terrorism, and whether administration violated sanctions by making the payment."[18]
- On August 5, 2016, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch requesting information about the Department of Justice's (DOJ) role in a $400 million cash payment the United States made to Iran in January 2016. Grassley wrote, "These reports are particularly troubling in light of the Department's continuing failure to cooperate with my inquiry into the FBI's alleged role in facilitating ransom payments to terrorist groups." Citing the The Wall Street Journal article and an article from 2015 that said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) provided guidance to a hostage held by al-Qaeda, Grassley added, "[T]here are serious questions about this administration's policies regarding paying ransoms to terrorists and state-sponsors of terrorism."[19] [20]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "U.S. withheld cash until hostages were released"
See also
- Iran nuclear agreement: An overview
- Iran nuclear agreement: Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
- Iran nuclear agreement:Negotiations
- Iran nuclear agreement: Timeline
- Iran nuclear agreement: Legislation
- Iran nuclear agreement: Congressional review
- 2016 presidential candidates on the Iran nuclear deal
- Iran nuclear agreement: U.S.-Israeli relations
- Iran nuclear agreement: Public opinion
- Outline for nuclear agreement with Iran reached
- Iran nuclear agreement talks resume ahead of deadline
- John Kerry
- Barack Obama
- P5+1 and E3+3
External links
- "Parameters for a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran's Nuclear Program"
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Held Cash Until Iran Freed Prisoners," accessed August 18, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Wall Street Journal, "Iran Releases Americans in Prisoner Swap," accessed August 18, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "State Dept. confirms $400 million Iran payment conditioned on hostage release," accessed August 18, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed," accessed August 3, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Transferred $1.3 Billion More in Cash to Iran After Initial Payment," accessed September 7, 2016
- ↑ CNN, "Obama on Iran payment: 'We do not pay ransom,'" accessed August 4, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 San Francisco Gate, "2 days after cash delivery, US paid $1.3 billion to Iran," accessed August 26, 2016
- ↑ FinancialServices.House.gov, "Subcommittee Investigates Dangers of Ransom Payments to Iran," accessed September 19, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Dallas Morning News, "Republicans demand to know: Why was Iran payment in cash?" accessed September 19, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 USA Today, "Republican congressman says U.S. payment to Iran was like a 'drug drop,'" accessed September 19, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "House GOP: White House paid Iran ransom for prisoners," accessed September 9, 2016
- ↑ Breitbart, "Rep. Ed Royce Seeks to Block Cash Ransoms to Iran," accessed September 9, 2016
- ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Rubio: Ban ransom payments for hostages," accessed September 8, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Senate GOP introduces bill demanding return of 'ransom' from Iran," accessed September 7, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Cotton: Iran payments offer terrorists 'untraceable cash,'" accessed September 7, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Top Republican presses Kerry for Iran 'ransom' details," accessed September 19, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Cruz, Lee question legality of Iran payment," accessed August 12, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "GOP senators push Kerry on Iran payment," accessed August 9, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Grassley pushes Lynch for Iran payment details," accessed August 5, 2016
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Justice Department Officials Raised Objections on U.S. Cash Payment to Iran," accessed August 3, 2016
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How Much Money Did Obama Give Iran In The Middle Of The Night
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