Ransom
After All?
$400m to Iran was ‘Contingent’ on Americans’
Release
By
RT
August 19, 2013 "Information
Clearing House"
- "RT"
- A shipment of $400 million in cash to
Iran in January was “contingent” on the release
of four imprisoned Americans, the US State
Department said Thursday, addressing accusations
that it was a “ransom” payment.
Wooden
pallets stacked with $400 million worth of euros
and Swiss francs were flown into Iran on January
17, the same day the US exchanged seven Iranian
prisoners for four Americans, the Wall Street
Journal reported earlier this month.
State
Department spokesman John Kirby said that the US
took advantage of the July 2015 nuclear deal to
bundle the talks about releasing the prisoners
with the settlement over the frozen Iranian
funds.
“I don’t think that anybody in
the administration is going to make any apology
for taking advantage of these opportunities,”
he told reporters at a press briefing on
Thursday.
The
cash delivery was “contingent” on
Iran’s willingness to release the Americans,
Kirby said. To “retain maximum leverage”
over Iran, the US withheld the payment until the
Americans had left Tehran.
