President Barack Obama quieted speculation that the cash transfer was a ransom for the release of the hostages on Thursday, saying the timing was a coincidence. President Obama says that the payment, made in January, was actually part of a deal to resolve a decades-old arms dispute. And the money coming off, I guess, right?’ the Republican candidate asked a capacity crowd in a Portland, Maine theater. Whether the story will now die is hard to say, The Trump campaign acknowledged its candidate was mistaken about the video Thursday afternoon.
Advertisement
Iranian authorities were awaiting the arrival of another plane before they released four Americans, one of the hostages said. “Nobody getting nervous because they are going to be shot, because they are shooting a picture of money pouring off of plane”. “Because they want to embarrass our country, and they want to embarrass our president”. Jason Rezaian, a reporter for the Washington Post, was one of the four American hostages released by the Islamic Republic.
The money was paid at the same time US hostages were freed, but the president said it was a payment linked to the landmark Iranian nuclear agreement.
It’s the second time in the past three days the Trump campaign has had to correct claims about national security and foreign policy under the Obama administration.
Despite the fact that his own campaign admitted this, Trump kept talking about it during a rally on Thursday.
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.
Several senior United States officials involved in the Iran negotiations have said they were not aware of any such footage. Trump had said at a rally on Wednesday that “Iran provided all of that footage, the tape, of taking” $400 million in cash from the U.S. off a cargo plane. Critics have said the money was paid as ransom. “We were completely open with everyone again, and it’s interesting to me how this is becoming a story again”, Obama said. The video narration claims that the cash was linked with the release.
After all, Obama had publicly disclosed the payment to Iran at a White House news conference in January called to announce implementation of the historic Iran nuclear deal.
Advertisement
Abedini said that an Iranian intelligence officer told him, “we are waiting for another plane and if that plane takes off then we are going to let you go”.
