Critics of Iran Nuclear Deal Attack U.S. Cash Payment

http://allonlinestuff.com/ Watch like and Subsc WASHINGTON—Disclosure of a $400 million cash payment from the U.S. to Tehran at the time four Americans were released in January has reignited a political furor over the Iran nuclear deal, potentially complicating White House efforts to fortify it. Critics of the Iran deal said Wednesday that the delivery amounted to paying ransom for the release of American prisoners, which would violate U.S. policy. They called on the White House to disclose details of the payment, which was first reported in The Wall Street Journal. Administration officials rejected allegations that the cash was a ransom, saying it represented an initial payment on a $1.7 billion deal to resolve a 37-year-old arms-deal dispute with Iran, which the White House announced at the time of the prisoner release. White House press secretary Josh Earnest called the disclosure that the initial payment was made in cash on the day of the release irrelevant. He accused Republicans of seizing upon the Journal report to revive their campaign against the landmark nuclear deal, which took effect the same weekend as the prisoner release. “I think it’s an indication of just how badly opponents of the Iran deal are struggling to justify their opposition to a successful deal that has prevented, and continues to prevent Iran, from developing a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Earnest said. RELATED U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed Iran Approves Oil-Field Contracts to Woo Investors House Speaker Paul Ryan said the cash payment marks “another chapter in the ongoing saga of misleading the American people to sell this dangerous nuclear deal.” Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz), called it “ransom” and said the Obama administration “added $400 million to the coffers of the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism at a time when it is actively working to destabilize the Middle East and undermine U.S. national security interests.” The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah), said he would call Secretary of State John Kerry to a hearing focused on the $400 million payment. The political debate comes amid increasing concern among supporters of the nuclear deal about its vulnerability. Tehran has repeatedly charged the U.S. with failing to live up to its side of the nuclear deal, in which the U.S. and other global powers agreed to lift economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. The White House has denied Iran’s claims, but is taking steps to keep the deal from falling apart. It has sought to ease international financial transactions with Iran that foreign banks have been slow to process because of fears they would violate remaining U.S. sanctions. The administration also recently approved a $17.6 billion deal for Boeing Co. to sell commercial jets to Iran’s main airline. Mr. Kerry and other U.S. officials also have tried to encourage European businesses to go back into the Iranian market. Congressional pushback could further undermine the agreement. Republican lawmakers have sought to impose new sanctions to scare away outside investment. The U.S. presidential election could also shift the dynamic. Republican nominee Donald Trump opposes the nuclear deal, while Democrat Hillary Clinton supports it. Mr. Trump criticized the payment as a “disgrace” that put Americans at risk. “Who gets the money? I doubt it’s the people of Iran,” he said at a rally in Florida. He noted other Americans had been detained since January, asking “where’s it going to end?” On Jan. 17 the Obama administration announced a $1.7 billion settlement with Iran to resolve claims before an international tribunal over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The $400 million in euros, Swiss francs and other currencies flown into Iran was the first installment. On Wednesday, administration officials refused to say whether Iran has received the remaining $1.3 billion, or in what form. Iranian state media has reported the full amount was received. The January payment wasn’t the first large cash transfer the Obama administration and its diplomatic allies facilitated for Iran, according to U.S. and European officials. The U.S. and other world powers began overseeing monthly transfers of $700 million, some of which was in cash, to Iran after the two sides reached an interim agreement in November 2013 to constrain Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. The payments, which were known at the time, largely came from Iranian oil revenues frozen in overseas bank accounts. They ran from early 2014 until the nuclear deal took effect in January. “We had to find all these strange ways of delivering the monthly allotment,” a senior U.S. official said. . ribe the channel