WASHINGTON, U.S. – The $400 million in payment that had been shipped to Iran on an unmarked plane had reportedly been released by U.S. authorities only after it was confirmed that the detained Americans in Iran were safely on their way back to the U.S.
(Article by Big News Network)
According to reports, President Barack Obama maintained that the amount was a part of a $1.7 billion payment to be fulfilled by the U.S. after a failed arms deal in the 1970s, and stressed that it was not a “ransom,” but analysts opine that the timing indicates otherwise.
Obama had said, “This wasn’t some nefarious deal. We do not pay ransom for hostages.”
However, officials claim that the currency, taken by an Iranian cargo plane from a Geneva airport, was allowed to depart only after a Swiss Air Force plane carrying the prisoners took off from the capital, Tehran.
Once the Americans were “wheels up,” Iranian officials were allowed to take custody of the currency, stacked in pallets.
The three detainees were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian; former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati; and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini.
Abedini’s account of the exchange was that he was informed by an Iranian intelligence official that they were made to wait 20 hours before their departure because it was dependent on the movement of a second plane.
However, the State department refuted Abedini’s claims, saying that the delay occurred because of a hiccup in locating Rezaian’s wife and mother, who accompanied him on the flight.
Despite Obama’s vehement denials, the transfer was seen as a “tightly scripted exchange specifically timed to the release of several American prisoners held in Iran.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement, “It’s time for the Obama White House to drop the charade and admit it paid a $400 million ransom to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.”
He added, “President Obama has foolishly put a price on the head of every American abroad and it should be no surprise that Iran has since detained more U.S. citizens.”
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