“Treasury Department spokeswoman Dawn Selak said in a statement the cash payments were necessary because of the ‘effectiveness of USA and worldwide sanctions, ‘ which isolated Iran from the global finance system”, said ABC News, relating what might be one of history’s strangest humblebrags.
Advertisement
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, sourcing its information from a congressional briefing given by Obama administration officials, that two more cash shipments – paid in Swiss francs, euro and other currencies – were delivered to Iran on January 22nd and February 5th.
When the nuclear deal was implemented in January, the Obama administration announced that it agreed to pay $1.7 billion to settle the decades old dispute, although officials didn’t say when or how the payments were made until now.
It’s sure to stoke more criticism from Republicans, who had already sharply denounced the $400 million transfer as “ransom”.
Audio clip: Listen to audio clip.
House GOP leaders are putting a new Iran measure from Royce to prevent such cash payments at the top of their to-do list during the four weeks they are back in session before the November election, with a vote expected in the full House this month.
Williams ended the rant saying the United States owes “nothing” to Iran because the country “is a state sponsor of terrorism that imprisons Americans and taunts our Navy”.
The nation’s progress in getting more people covered by health insurance slowed significantly this year, the government confirmed Wednesday in a report that tempers a historic achievement of the Obama.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is introducing legislation Tuesday to force the Iranian regime to return the money and pay American victims of Iran-backed terrorism. Marco Rubio introduced the No Ransom Payments Act to prevent the us government from making anymore similar payments and to try to recover the $1.7 billion from Iran.
The Obama administration has admitted they paid $1.7 billion in cash to Iran, four times the previously admitted amount.
The Obama administration revealed the true figure sent to Iran as part of required disclosures to Congress. “And we’ve emboldened Iran”, Royce said.
“It’s no wonder that the administration has fought so hard to keep the nature and timing of the cash transfers secret”, he said in a statement. “It seems more like a made-for-TV movie than actual, real-live US policy, and as an Army mom whose son is an active-duty officer and as a former United States ambassador, I have to say I am very concerned with the appearance of our government paying ransom for captured prisoners and further in the future endangering our other soldiers and diplomats overseas”. “Cash payments are highly irregular”.
He asked the witnesses if they could guarantee that the money will not fund terrorism.
The Obama administration has sought to issue waivers to remove sanctions on companies and banks that could facilitate these transactions with Iran.
Lance’s bill will ensure the current and future Administrations can not send Iran any further payments until victims of Iranian terrorism are justly compensated by the Iranian Government. Their legislation would also require Iran to settle claims from US families of victims of Iranian terrorism.
Advertisement
Of course, Iran is not even slightly interested in the legal claims of American citizens, and nobody in the Obama administration has evinced much enthusiasm for pressing those claims.
