In early August, the State Department and the White House denied rumours that the payment was ransom for the u.s. prisoners. The newspaper alleged that the transfer of the USA funds by a plane and the release of prisoners on January 17 constituted an agreed exchange. But he said the us withheld delivery of the cash as leverage until the USA citizens had left Iran.
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The Journal then reported on August 18 that the cash exchange was “specifically timed to the release of several American prisoners held in Iran”.
The State Department acknowledged this year that there was an unexplained cut made just at the point when a Fox News reporter asked whether the administration had lied about secret talks with Iran.
“Because we had concerns that Iran may renege on the prisoner release … we of course naturally … sought to retain maximum leverage until after the Americans were released”, Kirby said today. “This wasn’t some nefarious deal”, President Obama said in a press briefing.
This is the first time the United States has admitted to a connection between the release of the prisoners, including the Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian, and the funds.
A number of United States politicians have accused Obama of paying “ransom” even though the money belonged to Iran.
Kirby repeated numerous times that the U.S. position was to make sure that the prisoners were released before Iran got their money back. Administration officials have refused to publicly disclose how and when the transfer took place.
The payment and receipt modalities of the funds were also seen to hinge heavily the release of the said hostages.
Saying the return of the prisoners was the administration’s top priority, Kirby said: “We wanted to keep as much leverage as possible.
The agreement was that the $400 million be returned to Iran”.
The timing of the $400 million payment, Obama said, “was, in fact, dictated by the fact that as a outcome of us negotiating around the nuclear deal, we actually had diplomatic negotiations and conversations with Iran for the first time in several decades”. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said Thursday.
In an interview, Iranian-American pastor Saeed Abedini, one of the prisoners released, claimed a senior Iranian intelligence official at the time told him their departure was dependent upon the movements of a second cargo plane.
“The reason that we had to give cash is precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions and we do not have a banking relationship with Iran”.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said critics are making political hay of the matter, when in fact American officials showed good judgement.
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The House Financial Services Committee hasn’t yet decided whether to hold hearings.
