Kerry defends cash payment in wake of Iran deal

The Obama administration said on Wednesday that $400 million in cash paid to Iran soon after the release of five Americans detained by Tehran was not ransom for them as some Republicans have charged.

The Americans who were released included Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, Idaho pastor Saeed Abedini, and former Marine Corps Sergeant Amir Hekmati.

While senior USA officials told the Wall Street Journal that the payment and the prisoner exchange were purely coincidental, the Iranian press has portrayed the cash as ransom for the prisoners.

“This break with longstanding USA policy put a price on the head of Americans, and has led Iran to continue its illegal seizures” of Americans, Cotton said. The U.S. procured the money from the central banks of the Netherlands and Switzerland, they said.

The US sent the equivalent of $400 million in cash to Iran early this year as part of a prisoner exchange deal between the two sides.

News of the payment has ignited a firestorm of criticism directed toward the Obama administration.

The State Department also denied a link between the money and release of Americans, but said it was not sure whether the hostages were already released when the money showed up in Iran.

According to American and European officials, the money (Euros and Swiss francs) was piled in wooden compartments and was flown into Tehran inside and unmarked plane.

Objections by senior officials from the Department of Justice on sending a plane full of cash to Iran were reportedly overruled by the State Department.

President Barack Obama delivers a statement on the relations between USA and Iran, including the release of the United States hostages that were held in Iran, in the cabinet room of the White House on January 17, 2016 in Washington, DC.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (L) announce new sanctions against Iran at the State Department on November 21, 2011 in Washington, DC.

Though Mrs Clinton is credited with initiating talks for Iran’s nuclear deal, the accord was reached under current Secretary of State John Kerry. “The United States does not pay ransoms”.

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US officials described the deal as “a bargain: for taxpayers”, since the United States would probably have lost the arbitration case in The Hague, and would have resulted in paying Iran more than $10 billion. “We can be certain that this shady cash exchange will send a unsafe message to foreign enemies who will now be emboldened to capture and hold hostage American citizens in exchange for a payday”. “Scandal!” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.