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Not to the let the facts get in the way of some good old fashioned ignorant, misinformed hating and fear mongering but... 

 

<div>This is actually the result of a long-running claims process that had been at The Hague. In 1979, there was obviously an Iranian revolution that abruptly severed relations between our two countries. And prior to that revolution, the U.S. government had entered into an agreement with the then-Iranian government to transfer about $400 million in military equipment to the Iranian government. Once the revolution took place, obviously that equipment was not transferred, but we also didn't return Iran's money either. So that money essentially was held in what could, I think -- essentially in an escrow account.
 
And for more than 30 years now, the Iranians have been using this claims process at The Hague to try to recover that $400 million.This resolution that we agreed to was to return the $400 million and also to pay about $1 billion in interest. Now, the reason that this ends up being a very good deal for taxpayers is that our exposure, when it came to paying interest, could have been much higher. The Iranians were actually seeking $7 billion to $8 billion in interest payments. And I think that's an indication of how the interests of taxpayers were very well served by reaching this settlement.
 
The process leading up to the extensively and delicately negotiated settlement was also covered in detail by major news organizations at the time: 
 
The United States is to repay Iran a $400 million debt and $1.3 billion in interest dating to the Islamic revolution, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday.
 
The repayment, which settles a suit brought under an international legal tribunal, is separate from the tens of billions of dollars in frozen foreign accounts that Iran can now access after the end of nuclear sanctions.
 
But the timing of the announcement, one day after the implementation of the Iran nuclear accord, will be seen as pointing to a broader clearing of the decks between the old foes.
 
http://www.snopes.com/2016/08/03/obama-b...prisoners/
 

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Quote:^^ thank you very much. THIS WAS TO FELONIOUS ^^.


So it's not Obama's fault?


Funny story - GTE - the now defunct telecom -shipped over $100 + million worth of network equipment over to Iran in 1979 or 1980 expecting to reap record profits by establishing the infrastructure. Then, after whatever happened - they bailed and left it all to rot on the docks.

 

I'm assuming this was was the post you were originally wanting to thank!  Not JJ's...  :-)

 

People may not like the timing, but it seems that since we were making all these negotiations with Iran, might as well settle the old debt as well.  But yes, I can see how people that have an axe to grind over the current administration regime (did I do that right, JIB?) would like to find something to get thier girly panties in a twist over.  

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