The representative of the United States administration Josh Ernest said it was objected to sending 400 mln Dollars in cash to Iran as the country released American prisoners which was originally stipulated in the Hague court.
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“We were completely open with everyone about it”, Mr. Obama said.
Critics of Obama and the Iran nuclear deal have said that the payment could amount to ransom.
Obama said that at the time his administration had explained that Iran had taken claims before an worldwide tribunal and because of litigation risks the United States made a $1.7 billion settlement with the country to resolve the dispute following legal advice and suggestions.
The settlement was announced in January, including a planned $400 million payment.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Kirby commented on Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s statements on “Washington failing to live up to nuclear deal promises, proving that it can not be trusted”, by saying that they are not going to respond to every bit of rhetoric out of Iran on the JCPOA. And you know why the tape was given us?
US officials familiar with the recent transfer of $400 million in hard currency to Iran withheld details of the exchange from Congress during briefings in classified and unclassified settings, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
“We announced these payments in January”.
DOJ officials reportedly voiced their opposition to funneling millions of dollars to Iran via an unmarked cargo plane while the Iranian government was releasing four American hostages, according to The Wall Street Journal Wednesday.
“The United States does not pay ransoms”, Kerry told a news conference in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
He said the payment itself “wasn’t a secret”.
“Either the State Department is absolutely careless about the ramifications of spending $400 million in cash to Iran during a prisoner release, or US officials purposefully used this payment to entice the release of prisoners”.
“The issue is not so much that it was a coincidence, as it is that we were able to have a direct discussion”, he said.
“That means that in order to embarrass us further, Iran sent us the tapes”.
Although concerns persist that the money was a reward for the release of Americans, those concerns relate to four private US citizens who were held in Iranian prison – not the 10 USA sailors who went too close to an Iranian military installation and were briefly held by Iranian forces and reprimanded by their own superiors for the navigation mistake.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump blamed his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state during Obama’s first term, for launching the talks with Iran.
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“The President spoke to this settlement, Secretary Kerry spoke to the settlement at the time and tried to say, ‘Look, guys, I know (what) it looks like, but there’s no there there, ‘ ” he said.
