State Department confirms ransom payment Click to Tweet
President Barack Obama listens during one in a series of meetings discussing the mission against Osama bin Laden, in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.


Hmmm….Could it be…..RANSOM?

Republicans are claiming vindication after the State Department confirmed on Thursday that the United States conditioned the release of a $400 million cash payment to Iran on the departure of American prisoners from Tehran.

At a Thursday news briefing, State Department spokesman John Kirby addressed questions about a Wall Street Journal report by explaining that the U.S. held onto the $400 million cash payment until American prisoners were on a plane and safely away from Iran to “retain maximum leverage.” Kirby said the arrangement did not in any way constitute a ransom payment, as President Barack Obama’s Republican critics have alleged.

“We deliberately leveraged that moment to finalize these outstanding issues nearly simultaneously,” he said. “With concerns that Iran may renege on the prisoner release, given unnecessary delays regarding persons in Iran who could not be located as well as, to be quite honest, mutual mistrust between Iran and the United States, we of course sought to retain maximum leverage until after American citizens were released. That was our top priority.”

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump seized on the announcement during a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, saying it proved that Obama had “lied” about the payment and said it had “put every American traveling overseas, including our military personnel, at greater risk of being kidnapped.”

“He denied it was for the hostages, but it was,” Trump said. “He said we don’t pay ransom, but he did. He lied about the hostages — openly and blatantly — just like he lied about Obamacare.”

The $400 million in question was meant to settle a dispute over payment for military equipment that predated Iran’s Islamic revolution, a sum the U.S. agreed to in a settlement with Iran ahead of a decision from a Hague tribunal that was expected to order the U.S. to pay.

Obama had previously made these statements:

“We do not pay ransom. We didn’t here,” Obama said. “We don’t — we won’t in the future — precisely because if we did, then we would start encouraging Americans to be targeted, much in the same way that some countries that do pay ransom end up having a lot more of their citizens being taken by various groups.”

 yeah right

Source: State Dept. confirms $400 million Iran payment conditioned on hostage release – POLITICO