[URL="http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent-cash-to-iran-as-americans-were-freed-1470181874"]http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent-cash-to-iran-as-americans-were-freed-1470181874[/URL]
[QUOTE]WASHINGTON—The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release of four Americans detained in Tehran, according to U.S. and European officials and congressional staff briefed on the operation afterward.
Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran on an unmarked cargo plane, according to these officials. The U.S. procured the money from the central banks of the Netherlands and Switzerland, they said.
The money represented the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Iranian press reports have quoted senior Iranian defense officials describing the cash as a ransom payment. The Iranian foreign ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The $400 million was paid in foreign currency because any transaction with Iran in U.S. dollars is illegal under U.S. law. Sanctions also complicate Tehran’s access to global banks.
“Sometimes the Iranians want cash because it’s so hard for them to access things in the international financial system,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on the January cash delivery. “They know it can take months just to figure out how to wire money from one place to another.”
The Obama administration has refused to disclose how it paid any of the $1.7 billion, despite congressional queries, outside of saying that it wasn’t paid in dollars. Lawmakers have expressed concern that the cash would be used by Iran to fund regional allies, including the Assad regime in Syria and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist organization.[/QUOTE]
Oh joy. I wonder what they'll use that money for...
What the fuck
Iran is supposed to be our enemy and were giving them $400 million? For [I]four [/I]prisoners?
Whats the secret part of the deal that actually made giving Iran $400 million a good idea?!?
[quote]The money represented the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[/quote]
Failing to see the big problem here. Of course you'd do something secretly if it involved transporting $400 million in cash. You aren't exactly going to want to announce it to the public.
-snip-
[quote]“Iran will be returned its own funds, including appropriate interest, but much less than the amount Iran sought,” President Barack Obama said on Sunday.[/quote]
[quote]The White House described the settlement as a victory for taxpayers, arguing that the U.S. was likely to lose in arbitration under way in The Hague, Netherlands, and could have been held liable for billions more if the process had dragged on.[/quote]
shitty timing means it ended up looking like a ransom payment but it was two totally different teams
[quote]“As we’ve made clear, the negotiations over the settlement of an outstanding claim…were completely separate from the discussions about returning our American citizens home,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. “Not only were the two negotiations separate, they were conducted by different teams on each side, including, in the case of The Hague claims, by technical experts involved in these negotiations for many years.”[/quote]
(hague claims being the settlement for 1.7 billion)
[QUOTE=Svinnik;50824886]Iranian press reports have quoted senior Iranian defense officials describing the cash as a ransom payment. The Iranian foreign ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.[/QUOTE]
If the Obama administration is smart they'll withhold sending the rest of the money until the Iranian government stops lying about why they're sending it.
Didn't Obama announce it in January, What the Fuck Media?
[QUOTE=RIPBILLYMAYS;50824944]What the fuck
Iran is supposed to be our enemy and were giving them $400 million? For [I]four [/I]prisoners?
Whats the secret part of the deal that actually made giving Iran $400 million a good idea?!?[/QUOTE]
Did you not read the OP?
[QUOTE=RIPBILLYMAYS;50824944]What the fuck
Iran is supposed to be our enemy and were giving them $400 million? For [I]four [/I]prisoners?
Whats the secret part of the deal that actually made giving Iran $400 million a good idea?!?[/QUOTE]
Yah know read the OP but freeing Americans is a worthy expenditure by the government imo.
[QUOTE=RIPBILLYMAYS;50824944]What the fuck
Iran is supposed to be our enemy and were giving them $400 million? For [I]four [/I]prisoners?
Whats the secret part of the deal that actually made giving Iran $400 million a good idea?!?[/QUOTE]
The fact that it was their $400 million in the first place.
OP forgot to put that part in. I guess it's not important to the narrative.
Even if it was ransom money, is it such a travesty to save four peoples lives?
[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;50825008]Yah know read the OP but freeing Americans is a worthy expenditure by the government imo.[/QUOTE]
It's still coercion. It's like if China took some of our people prisoner and said "Pay your debt and you'll get them back, but remember: it's not a ransom."
[QUOTE=Mining Bill;50825025]Even if it was ransom money, is it such a travesty to save four peoples lives?[/QUOTE]
Those four only matter to us because they are American citizens. I'm not happy with Iran saying it was ransom money because it sounds like we will fork over $100 million for any American another country can capture
[QUOTE=Raidyr;50825021]The fact that it was their $400 million in the first place.
OP forgot to put that part in. I guess it's not important to the narrative.[/QUOTE]
I put that in
[QUOTE]The money represented the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=RIPBILLYMAYS;50825038]Those four only matter to us because they are American citizens. I'm not happy with Iran saying it was ransom money because it sounds like we will fork over $100 million for any American another country can capture[/QUOTE]
Iran sources are going to spin it as a ransom payoff because its useful propaganda, much like Svinnik and the right is doing with this story from [I]January[/I].
[editline]3rd August 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=Svinnik;50825048]I put that in[/QUOTE]
Specifically the fact that Iran gave us $400 million to buy planes and the remaining $1.3 billion is interest.
[QUOTE=Mining Bill;50825025]Even if it was ransom money, is it such a travesty to save four peoples lives?[/QUOTE]
[I]In the case of actual ransom payments[/I] it is kind of a bad idea because it sets a precedent that if a country wants a bunch of money they just need to detain Americans and collect their check. Personally I think regardless of whether or not this is or is not a ransom, it was extremely poor timing and might give the Iranians the idea that America pays ransoms.
watch the media blow this up [I]again[/I]
like that billions of dollars we "paid" iran for the nuclear talks
Obama has come out against paying ransoms or trading for prisoners in general. He has said why it is a bad idea and bad foreign policy.
So your telling me if I hold an American hostage in Iran I'll get paid a clean 100 mil? With this kind of incentive I'm suprised no one has set up some kind of US Citizen trafficking ring.
It's scary what precedent Obama has set forth...
[QUOTE=Shirt.;50829910]So your telling me if I hold an American hostage in Iran I'll get paid a clean 100 mil? With this kind of incentive I'm suprised no one has set up some kind of US Citizen trafficking ring.
It's scary what precedent Obama has set forth...[/QUOTE]
Read the article next time.
[QUOTE=Shirt.;50829910]So your telling me if I hold an American hostage in Iran I'll get paid a clean 100 mil? With this kind of incentive I'm suprised no one has set up some kind of US Citizen trafficking ring.
It's scary what precedent Obama has set forth...[/QUOTE]
/s
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