According to the Obama administration, if it looks like a ransom duck, walks like a ransom duck and quacks like a ransom duck, it’s really just the first installment of $1.7 billion settlement with Iran over a decades old financial dispute before the Hague Tribunal involving Iran assets in the US that were frozen in 1981.
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“We do not pay ransom for hostages”, Obama said, citing long-standing USA policy not to pay for fear of encouraging abductions. Trump said. “That means that in order to embarrass us further, Iran sent us the tapes, right?” It was delivered to Iran on palettes aboard an unmarked plane. After years in prison, he was released along with three other Americans to much fanfare. Seven Iranians, either convicted of or charged with breaking USA embargoes, were released in the prisoner swap, and 14 others were removed from worldwide wanted lists.
Speaking Wednesday at a rally in Daytona, Florida, Trump claimed to have seen “top secret” video of the cash transfer.
Obama confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that said US sent Iran $400 million in cash the same day hostages were released, but pushed back against Republican accusations that the White House completed the transaction as part of the prisoner swap.
“It’s been interesting to watch this story surface”, Obama said. He pointed out that the payment, along with an additional $1.3 billion in interest to be paid later, was announced by the administration publicly when it was concluded in January, a day after the implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement with Iran. “Many months ago”, Obama said.
Obama’s comments came after a meeting with his national security staff on the battle to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
During the briefing, Obama said the US military and coalition forces will escalate airstrikes as part of the overall plan to destroy the Islamic State, which experts say presently operates in almost two dozen countries.
He said he’s always pushing his team to seek out new ideas to battle the problem. The day before, he stated these things as fact. The attackers were reportedly inspired by IS. “We got a number of Americans being held all around the world, and I meet with their families, and it is heartbreaking”, Obama said.
In addition to praising Ryan, Trump also threw his support behind Arizona Sen.
To the frustration of Trump’s aides and fellow Republicans, the celebrity businessman has all too often proven unable to let go of a bad story, often instead fueling it – like he did this past week when he escalated a flap with the parents of a slain US soldier who was Muslim – at the expense of the campaign’s message.
And in an interview with CBS This Morning that aired Friday, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine said Trump had probably just confused the videos the way he had confused where Kaine had been governor.
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Information from The Associ ated Press was used in this story.
