Christian Pastor Saeed Abedini told Fox Business Network’s Trish Regan on Thursday that he was taken out of his prison cell and brought to the airport in Tehran, where a plane was waiting for him and other freed American prisoners. And I asked one of the…police that was with us, that, why are you not letting us to go to the…plane? “We didn’t here, and we won’t in the future”, Obama said. Among those who suspect that the Obama administration will allow such transactions, either officially or unofficially, some have characterized them as potential pathways for U.S. taxpayer dollars to directly financing worldwide terrorism.
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The fallout from the revelation that the Obama administration paid $400 million in cash to Iran continued on Thursday when one of the four American hostages freed on the same day described how his trip home was delayed under murky circumstances. “After that, they never told anything to me and I didn’t see anything”.
“We call them terrorists and I don’t believe they are going to use this money for building orphanages, which I was arrested for, but I prefer that the politicians answer this question”.
He also said, “First of all, I’m so thankful for my freedom”.
In fact, by most accounts Iran’s anti-Western rhetoric has only intensified since that time, as evidenced by the fact that the hostages released in January were essentially replaced by other dual nationals including the worldwide businessman Siamak Namazi and, much more recently, the recent San Diego State University graduate Robin Shahini. Asked whether he was anxious about Trump having access to such material, Obama said simply that those who want to be president need to start acting like it.
Administration officials said Obama waited to speak only after their departure was confirmed.
On Iran, Obama expressed surprise at criticism of his administration’s cash payment to settle a longstanding legal claim, adamantly rejecting claims that it was a ransom paid for the release of the four Americans. The one goal Iran has for such tests is to develop a delivery system for a nuclear warhead, which it has certainly not foresworn acquiring.
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“The reason is because we couldn’t send them a check and we couldn’t wire the money”. Many of those critics have decried the administration’s apparent efforts to actively encourage European investment in the Islamic Republic. The departure was also complicated by flight crew rest rules, he said. According to the WSJ, members of the Department of Justice had objected to the 400 million cash payment because of concerns it would be seen as quid pro-quo ransom.
