Who says the mighty United States of America won’t negotiate with terrorists? Depending on situation, the U.S. does negotiate and is ready to pay top dollar, although everything would be done secretly. The Obama administration was exposed as having secretly airlifted US$400 million (£304 million; RM1.62 billion) – in CASH – to Iran as 4 Americans detained by Iran were released.
The latest report reveals that the United States sent “wooden pallets stacked with Euros, Swiss francs and other currencies” into Iran on an “unmarked cargo plane.” No U.S. dollar was involved because the U.S. law forbids transactions with Iran with American currency. The U.S. procured the money from the central banks of the Netherlands and Switzerland.
An Iranian news site exposed that the plane carrying US$400 million cash landed at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport the same day the American prisoners were released. The 4 prisoners – Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former marine Amir Hekmati, Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari – were released on January 17.
After the embarrassing report, State Department spokesman John Kirby denied a link between the payment and the release of the prisoners. He claimed the payment was the first installment of a US$1.7 billion agreement the Obama administration made with Iran to settle a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
On January 17, President Barack Obama said – “With the nuclear deal done, prisoners released, the time was right to resolve this dispute as well” – apparently referring to the U.S.-Iran Claims Tribunal at The Hague. Obama, however, didn’t disclose the US$400 million cash payment to Iran, let alone the US$1.7 billion settlement – until the revelation today.
The Wall Street Journal, however, reported that U.S. officials admit that Iranian negotiators on the prisoner exchange said they wanted the cash (US$400 million) to show they had gained something tangible. The Obama administration can argue until the cows come home but clearly, the US$400 million cash payment is related to the release of American prisoners.
Interestingly, since the cash was airlifted, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has arrested 2 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,” – said Senator Mark Kirk.
At the time of the prisoner release, Secretary of State John Kerry and the White House shamelessly portrayed it as a diplomatic breakthrough. Heck, Mr. Kerry even cited the importance of “the relationships forged and the diplomatic channels unlocked over the course of the nuclear talks”, despite the fact that nobody, except Kerry and Obama, believes Iran would honour the nuclear deal.
While Obama administration busy denying the “secret” mission of airlifting US$400 million cash was related to the released of 4 American prisoners, Iranian press reports have quoted senior Iranian defence officials describing the cash as a “ransom payment”. The Iranian has not make a single statement which suggests the cash was related to the failed Iran-U.S. arms deal.
Therefore, did President Barack Obama lie about paying US$400 million as ransom for the release of the 4 American prisoners? Or was the cash payment indeed part of the US$1.7 billion settlement after all, but John Kerry screwed up big time at negotiation table so much so that the Iranian was misled to believe the money was a ransom payment?
Obama administration has trumpeted that the US$1.7 billion settlement was a terrific deal for taxpayers because Iran was actually seeking more than US$10 billion, and Washington was certain they would lose the arbitration at The Hague. But if Obama had really struck such an amazing bargain, why did he need to hide it instead of telling all and sundry?
Here’s the most damaging part about Obama’s little scandal. Senior Justice Department officials were reportedly objected to sending a plane loaded with US$400 million cash to Tehran at the same time that Iran released 4 imprisoned Americans. However, their objections were overruled by the State Department.
Iran has acknowledged providing both financial and military aid to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and deploying Iranian soldiers there. By overruling U.S.-DOJ and rushed the cash to Iran, essentially Barack Obama is aiding the Iranian of possibly subsidizing the Assad regime’s war in Syria through American taxpayers’ cash.
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August 4th, 2016 by financetwitter
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