US President Barack Obama and his administration are under fire from Republicans over a cash payment of $400 million delivered to Iran in January, which his critics say was paid as ransom for the release of four American hostages.
According to Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, the payment to Iran was part of the resolution of a longstanding financial dispute between the two nations, and was delivered in cash because the two nations do not have a banking relationship.
President Obama’s critics from the Republican Party, particularly GOP nominee Donald Trump however, accuse Obama of using the cash as payment for ransom in order to release four American hostages.
"We do not pay ransom. We didn't here, and we won't in the future," Obama said at a press conference in the Pentagon.
"Those families know we have a policy that we don't pay ransom," he said in defense of the cash payment. "And the notion that we would somehow start now, in this high-profile way, and announce it to the world, even as we're looking in the faces of other hostage families whose loved ones are being held hostage, and saying to them we don't pay ransom, defies logic."
"We announced these payments in January. Many months ago. They were not a secret," Obama said. "It wasn't a secret. We were completely open with everybody about it."
Earnest denounced the assertions from some Republicans that the $400 million delivered to Iran in foreign currency was ransom money, and compared the Republicans’ statements to those of conservatives who oppose the nuclear agreement.
“It’s an indication of just how badly opponents of the Iran deal are struggling to justify their opposition to a successful deal,” Earnest said.
The cash payment is said to have been paid in Euros, Swiss francs and other currencies and flown to Tehran on a cargo plane.
GOP nominee Donald Trump also linked the current administration’s payment to Iran as “scandal” for his opponent, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
“Our incompetent Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, was the one who started talks to give 400 million dollars, in cash, to Iran. Scandal!” Trump wrote in a tweet on Wednesday.
"A tape was made -- you saw that?" Trump asked the crowd sat the start of his rally in Portland, Maine. "With the airplane coming in, nice plane ... and the money coming off, I guess."
According to the New York Times, “the dispute regarding the payment to Iran centers on a series of deals that emerged from negotiations between American diplomats and Iranian officials that culminated in announcements in January.”
Following the signing of a deal with Iran on its nuclear program, Washington also announced separate agreements including the release of four Americans held in Iran, and a third agreement to resolve a longstanding claim by Tehran over frozen money in US banks.
Other opponents of President Obama and Secretary Clinton have also jumped to the opportunity to denounce the cash transfer.
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida argued that the cash sent to Iran amounted to a ransom payment to get the detained Americans home.
Another critic of the administration, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said in a statement that the cash payment was proof that the Iran nuclear deal “is nothing but a series of bribes and secret agreements that will do nothing to prevent Iran from reaching nuclear capability, yet will provide funding for their sponsorship of terrorism and encourage them to detain more of our citizens.”
In response, the White House press secretary denounced the allegations, saying, “Let me be clear, the United States does not pay ransom for hostages.”
“They are once again in a position of making the same argument as hard-liners in Iran in an attempt to undermine the nuclear agreement,” Earnest added.
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