Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
New Details of US $400 Million Payment to Iran Reveal Direct Link to Hostage Release
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
US President Barack Obama.. Photo: Pete Souza.
JNS.org – The U.S. State Department on Thursday confirmed that the $400 million payment to Iran was contingent on the release of several American prisoners in Iran last January.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said that while negotiations over returning money to Iran from the decades-old accounts were conducted separately, the U.S. withheld the delivery of the cash as leverage until U.S. citizens had left Iran, the Associated Press reported.
The confirmation by the State Department comes following a report by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that gave new details on the U.S.-Iran money exchange.
“U.S. officials wouldn’t let Iranians take control of the money until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying three freed Americans departed from Tehran on Jan. 17. Once that happened, an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to bring the cash home from a Geneva airport that day,” the WSJ report said.
Pres. Barack Obama and other top U.S. officials have repeatedly denied that the $400 million payment, which is part of a larger $1.7 billion debt from 1979 when Iran was ruled by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was not a ransom payment to the Islamic Republic. Republican lawmakers, however, have charged that the payment equated to ransom and promised to hold hearings on the exchange when Congress returns from its summer recess.
