Quote:Obama administration insists there was no quid pro quo, but critics charge payment amounted to ransom.

 

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.

 

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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.

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent-cas...1470181874

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Fantastic. The Iran deal was bad, but giving cash to ensure the release of captured American prisoners?

 

This whole story seems awfully suspicious.

 

A.  We have our government getting foreign currency to "pay a settlement".  It's not like the money was paid the more traditional way via wire transfer.  It was actual currency stacked up on a pallet and flown into Iran in an unmarked cargo aircraft.  I wonder if there is a paper trail?  Since when do we pay another government in cash for anything?

 

B.  The Obama Administration Regime failed to disclose how any money was paid to Iran even after congressional queries.

 

C.  This "installment" towards a settlement with Iran just happened to take place at the same time 4 American Prisoners Hostages were freed.

 

D.  Iran is one of three countries on the list of countries designated as State Sponsors of Terrorism designated by the U.S. Department of State.  There are restrictions in place by law that forbids certain financial transactions.

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