Report: US airlifted $400 million to Iran as detained Americans were released

[Teh One Who Knocks]

FOX News


http://i.imgur.com/3mjGzwP.jpg

The U.S. government airlifted the equivalent of $400 million to Iran this past January, which occurred as four detained Americans were released by Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The cash transfer was the first installment paid in a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a failed 1979 arms deal dating from just before the Iranian Revolution.

State Department spokesman John Kirby denied the cash transfer was done to secure the release of the four Americans.

The negotiations over the [arms deal] settlement ... were completely separate from the discussions about returning our American citizens home," Kirby said in a statement. "Not only were the two negotiations separate, they were conducted by different teams on each side."

"The funds that were transferred to Iran were related solely to the settlement of a long-standing claim at the U.S.-Iran Claims Tribunal at The Hague," Kirby's statement concluded.

However, the Journal says U.S. officials acknowledge that Iranian negotiators on the prisoner exchange said they wanted the cash to show they had gained something tangible.

The Journal also reported that President Barack Obama did not disclose the $400 million cash payment when he announced Jan. 17 that the arms deal dispute had been resolved. The administration has not disclosed how the $1.7 billion was paid, except to say it was not paid in dollars.

The cash flown to Iran consisted of euros, Swiss francs, and other currencies because U.S. law forbids transacting American dollars with Iran.

Since the cash was airlifted, Iran's Revolutionary Guard has arrested two more Iranian-Americans. Tehran has also detained dual-nationals from France, Canada and the U.K. in recent months.

"Paying ransom to kidnappers puts Americans even more at risk," Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said ina statement. "While Americans were relieved by Iran’s overdue release of illegally imprisoned American hostages, the White House’s policy of appeasement has led Iran to illegally seize more American hostages."

[RBP]

LOL

What else is there to say about the greatest president in American history.

[FBD]

and yet they dont want to use the word "ransom" :lol:

[DemonGeminiX]

:|

That $400 million would've been better spent bombing the hell out of Tehran.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

FOX News


Republican lawmakers are fuming over a bombshell report overnight that the U.S. government airlifted the equivalent of $400 million to Iran this past January – as four detained Americans were released by Tehran – and say the transaction has put more Americans at risk of being taken hostage.

The cash transfer, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, was the first installment paid in a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a failed 1979 arms deal dating from just before the Iranian Revolution.

The cash flown to Iran consisted of euros, Swiss francs, and other currencies because U.S. law forbids transacting American dollars with Iran. While the Obama administration denied the cash transfer was done to secure the release of the four Americans, GOP lawmakers said it was tantamount to “ransom.”

"Paying ransom to kidnappers puts Americans even more at risk," Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said in a statement. "While Americans were relieved by Iran’s overdue release of illegally imprisoned American hostages, the White House’s policy of appeasement has led Iran to illegally seize more American hostages."

The four released Americans are Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian; Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine; Christian pastor Saeed Abedini; and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, whose case had not been publicized before the release.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said their release was on an entirely separate track from the settlement payment and, in an interview Wednesday with Fox News, said any suggestion it was tied to ransom is “utterly false.”

“We just don’t pay ransom. … This was not ransom,” he said.

Kirby further said there was “no secret” about the payment.

“It was their money,” Kirby told Fox News, noting the funds had been frozen and it “made no sense for us to continue to drag out their claim.” He argued the “compromise” struck with Iran worked to the “taxpayers’ benefit” because potentially billions more could have been on the line.

In a written statement, Kirby said the negotiations over the Americans and over the settlement were even conducted "by different teams on each side." He said: "The funds that were transferred to Iran were related solely to the settlement of a long-standing claim at the U.S.-Iran Claims Tribunal at The Hague."

However, the Journal says U.S. officials acknowledge that Iranian negotiators on the prisoner exchange said they wanted the cash to show they had gained something tangible.

The Journal also reported that President Obama did not disclose the $400 million cash payment when he announced Jan. 17 that the arms deal dispute had been resolved. The administration has not disclosed how the $1.7 billion was paid, except to say it was not paid in dollars.

“The logistics of this payment -- literally delivering a plane full of cash to evade U.S. law -- shows yet again the extraordinary lengths the Obama administration will go to accommodate Iran, all while hiding the facts from Congress and the American people,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., said in a statement. “Hundreds of millions in the pockets of a terrorist regime means a more dangerous region, period. And paying ransom only puts more American lives in jeopardy.”

Since the cash was airlifted, Iran's Revolutionary Guard has arrested two more Iranian-Americans. Tehran also has detained dual-nationals from France, Canada and the U.K. in recent months.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

If we don't fund the enemy, we wont have an enemy

[Muddy]

Reagans rolling over in his grave.

[RBP]

Reagans rolling over in his grave.

Ummmm.... I love Ronnie, but he was no Angel on secret funding for stopping soviet progression. He was arming the Iranians to fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. When that dried up, he flooded urban US hoods with crack cocaine to get the cash.

If anything he's rolling over saying "I could have just airlifted cash?" FUCK!

[PorkChopSandwiches]

:lol:

[Muddy]

Ummmm.... I love Ronnie, but he was no Angel on secret funding for stopping soviet progression. He was arming the Iranians to fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. When that dried up, he flooded urban US hoods with crack cocaine to get the cash.

If anything he's rolling over saying "I could have just airlifted cash?" FUCK!

:fbd:

[RBP]

:fbd:

:lol: Unfortunately, those are now proven realities and admissions from the US Government..

[Teh One Who Knocks]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/reagan-iran/

[FBD]

:|

That $400 million would've been better spent bombing the hell out of Tehran.

Funny how there was an Iranian problem the second Reagan took office.

But of course that's after we helped overthrown their western valued system and helped install a theocracy there

but nevermind, since they wouldnt let the oil companies keep 99.9999% of their profits from the ground there, evidently that's "an Iranian problem"....

indeed, indeed it is

although the only thing they've done in the last few decades was talk about the evil zionist regime in israel and their armored lapdog, the united states...







its bad enough reading propaganda on the news, but its such a huge facepalm seeing someone you consider to be relatively intelligent buy it hook line and sinker, and spout bs like this.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Funny how there was an Iranian problem the second Reagan took office.

You do realize that it was under the Carter administration that the Iranian Revolution took place and the American Embassy workers were taken hostage?

[RBP]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/reagan-iran/

Yes, then combine that with the 2nd source of funding.

http://i.imgur.com/qHisloj.jpg?1

[FBD]

You do realize that it was under the Carter administration that the Iranian Revolution took place and the American Embassy workers were taken hostage?

yes indeedy, and if you read your history, you'd also know that those wheels were set in motion with the coup that we helped happen to install the theocracy in the first place :tup: so hence the "problem" popping up and the neocons having a reason that they promulgated in the first place.

all part of the history of the petrodollar, if folks care to have read such things ;)

[perrhaps]

Some mornings my absolute joy of having woken up, which is far superior to the alternative, is diminished by my realization that our president is really Jon Lovitz's SNL character Tommy Flanagan in (1/2) blackface

[Godfather]

I have to admit I'm a bit confused why you guys are quite this angry... the money was Iranian money frozen from a failed deal, not your tax dollars, and it sounds like the US agreed to pay it back as part of a deal to broker peace.

The spin makes it sound like Obama paid a bribe but I'm having a hard time seeing it that way? And this isn't even a recently negotiated deal, it's like non-news from January.

[RBP]

I have to admit I'm a bit confused why you guys are quite this angry... the money was Iranian money frozen from a failed deal, not your tax dollars, and it sounds like the US agreed to pay it back as part of a deal to broker peace.

The spin makes it sound like Obama paid a bribe but I'm having a hard time seeing it that way? And this isn't even a recently negotiated deal, it's like non-news from January.

It's largely optics, yes. But optics also matter when building a deal based on trust and transparency. Why didn't Obama disclose the transfer? Why did it have to be on the same day as the hostage release? Why couldn't we have simply opened up the banking restrictions and done a wire transfer? In his explanation today, he took that same fucking condescending tone he takes when he thinks his subject to too fucking stupid to understand.

You know why we don't understand, Mr. President? Because you spare your stupid subjects the reasonable details. You lie by omission and then expect that we will say "oh, okay, that's cool" when you spin your after-the-fact yarn.

GF... let's say your wife went to a bachelorette party, which made you a little nervous, but you should trust her, so that's cool. The next day, she says they went to a bar and had fun, and it was a successful evening. Later found out she went to a party with male strippers and spent $400. Huh? Hmmmm. Would you accept her after-the-fact explanation that she delivered in a condescending tone? Would you cowl to her preaching about how it was all innocent and your query into the omitted details and cash expenditure was just you being ridiculous? Or would you wonder because she lied by omission in the first place, and think the facts just don't add up?

It's not about tax money. It's about trust and transparency. For a guy who promised to have the most transparent administration in history, he sure acts like a walled off monarch.

[Godfather]

Do I get to spend $400 on strippers too then :-k

[RBP]

You get the point...

[Godfather]

Eh, I'll agree to your frustration but I still think you guys bit on the media spin a little hard. You got 4 dudes back for money owed/owned by them anyways. Sure it's a bit seedy that it wasn't disclosed when the $1.7B deal story was published in January, but what President isn't :lol:

And he didn't negotiate with terrorists... it was a firm set price :dance:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

FOX News and The Associated Press


http://i.imgur.com/BepavdU.jpg

President Obama on Thursday pushed back on claims that the United States paid $400 million for the release of four American hostages in Iran – defending the transaction as evidence that the controversial nuclear deal with Tehran acted as a catalyst for progress in other areas.

"This wasn’t some nefarious deal," he said during a press conference at the Pentagon. "We do not pay ransom for hostages."

Reports have surfaced in recent days that a $400 million pallet of cash was airlifted by the Obama administration to the Iranian government at the same time four Americans hostages were released.

Obama said the money sent to Iran wasn’t a secret and suggested the news had been recycled to drum up drama.

Earlier Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry flatly denied any connection between the cash — and an additional $1.3 billion interest payment — and the prisoner swap, which occurred in rapid succession.

The payment was part of a decades-old dispute over a failed military equipment deal dating to the 1970s, before the Islamic revolution in 1979, the Obama administration has said.

"The United States does not pay ransom and does not negotiate ransoms," Kerry told reporters during a press conference in Buenos Aires. "It is not our policy. This story is not a new story. This was announced by the president of the United States himself at the same time."

The Obama administration has said the payment was part of a deal under the then-U.S.-backed shah to buy $400 million worth of military equipment in 1970s. The equipment was never delivered because in 1979, the government was overthrown and revolutionaries took Americans hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

The U.S. and Iran have been negotiating the Iranian claim to the money since 1981.

Some Republicans have slammed the payment as “ransom” and says it puts more Americans at risk of being taken hostage.

"The Obama Administration’s airlift of $400 million in cash to Iran is disturbing, but hardly surprising given its long record of concessions to America’s adversaries," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said in a written statement. "Whatever the Administration may claim, it is clear that this payment was a ransom for Americas held hostage in Iran."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the cash payment marked "another chapter" in the Obama administration’s "ongoing saga of misleading the American people to sell this dangerous nuclear deal."

During the press conference, Obama also gave an update on the Islamic State terror group, saying it continues to pose a serious threat to Americans.

Despite the warning, he vowed to take them down and said the group will "inevitably be defeated."

"None of the (ISIS) leaders are safe, and we’re going to keep going after them," Obama said.

"We will expose them for what they are – murderers," he added.

The president also questioned Russia’s involvement in Syria, saying the relationship raises "very serious questions."

On the domestic front, Obama called Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s claims that the U.S. election will be rigged "ridiculous."

"Of course the election is not rigged – what does that even mean?" he said in response to a reporter’s question.

"This will be an election unlike any other election," he added. "I think all of us at some point in our lives played sports or in a schoolyard – some folks, if they lose, they say they got cheated but I’ve never heard of someone that hasn’t lost yet saying they got cheated."

His advice for Trump?

"My suggestion would be to go out and try to win the election."

Both Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton will soon receive classified briefings, giving them access to sensitive information about national security threats and the U.S. military posture. Asked whether he was worried about Trump having access to such material, Obama said simply that those who want to be president need to start acting like it.

"That means being able to receive these briefings and not spread them around," he said.

[RBP]

Except that a released hostage is saying the plane was held until the pallets of cash in an unmarked jet arrived.

:fbd:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

It's largely optics, yes. But optics also matter when building a deal based on trust and transparency. Why didn't Obama disclose the transfer? Why did it have to be on the same day as the hostage release? Why couldn't we have simply opened up the banking restrictions and done a wire transfer? In his explanation today, he took that same fucking condescending tone he takes when he thinks his subject to too fucking stupid to understand.

You know why we don't understand, Mr. President? Because you spare your stupid subjects the reasonable details. You lie by omission and then expect that we will say "oh, okay, that's cool" when you spin your after-the-fact yarn.

GF... let's say your wife went to a bachelorette party, which made you a little nervous, but you should trust her, so that's cool. The next day, she says they went to a bar and had fun, and it was a successful evening. Later found out she went to a party with male strippers and spent $400. Huh? Hmmmm. Would you accept her after-the-fact explanation that she delivered in a condescending tone? Would you cowl to her preaching about how it was all innocent and your query into the omitted details and cash expenditure was just you being ridiculous? Or would you wonder because she lied by omission in the first place, and think the facts just don't add up?

It's not about tax money. It's about trust and transparency. For a guy who promised to have the most transparent administration in history, he sure acts like a walled off monarch.


Do I get to spend $400 on strippers too then :-k


You get the point...

Now what if your girlfriend was black?

[perrhaps]

Now what if your girlfriend was black?

Then there's a greater probability that her $400.00 came from us.