You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US paid Iran $1.3 billion in cash to settle old dispute
2016-08-18
[NYPOST] The B.O. regime’s $400 million payoff to Iran was followed by a second transfer of $1.3 billion, it was reported Tuesday.

President B.O. took considerable flak for the first payment, which coincided with the release in January of four Americans being held by Tehran.

Critics charged that the move smacked of ransom, which the US has pledged never to pay.

The $400 million was the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement with Iran to resolve a dispute over a failed arms deal signed before the 1979 fall of the shah.

But there was no word about what happened to the rest of the debt -- $1.3 billion.

On Tuesday, The Weekly Standard reported that the second payment was also quietly delivered.

Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Julia Frifield sent a letter to Congress on March 17, 2016, stating, "Iran received the balance of $400 million in the Trust Fund as well as roughly $1.3 billion representing a compromise on the interest," according to the magazine.

This payment was likely made in cash, since the US has no banking relationship with Tehran.

Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran in an unmarked cargo plane to cover the first $400 million.

"The reason that we had to give them cash is precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions -- and we don’t have a banking relationship with Iran -- that we couldn’t send them a check," Obama said in an Aug. 4 presser.
Posted by:Fred

#10  we don’t have a banking relationship with Iran

No electronic routing numbers so we won't know where it came from. Wonder if this is part of the billion$ smuggled out of Iraq after the fall of his namesake.
Posted by: Skidmark   2016-08-18 14:50  

#9  OK so the U.S. owes 1,3 billion.
Deduct it from the compensation for the embassy hostages back then.
Posted by: European Conservative   2016-08-18 13:39  

#8  "An old dispute?"

'Yeah.'

"How old?"

'Really old'?

"Really old?"

'Yeah, really, really old.'

"Like how many years old?"

'Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm, nobody remembers.'
Posted by: Bobby   2016-08-18 13:35  

#7  Ahhh, a billion-three: Chump change!

Or maybe Champ Change.
Posted by: Bobby   2016-08-18 13:13  

#6  So if you wonder how some of these terrorist groups keep showing up with these bright shiny brand new Hi-Lux pickup trucks and brand new 14.5mm AA guns...now you know.

Just like last week when "Ima in Hiding" Nusrallah said they got all of their money from Iran...there you go.

Euros and Swiss francs are much harder to trace.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2016-08-18 12:58  

#5  Death.
Posted by: Tarzan Slailet2796   2016-08-18 12:55  

#4  So pay to a Governemnt that says "Dead to America"

Smart.
Posted by: Tarzan Slailet2796   2016-08-18 12:55  

#3  Look for ValJar's fingerprints once again.
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2016-08-18 12:19  

#2  Indeed it is, Raj. What this truly is: jizya
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2016-08-18 11:42  

#1  ...as well as roughly $1.3 billion representing a compromise on the interest," according to the magazine.

I thought interest was, like, haram in Islam?
Posted by: Raj   2016-08-18 00:35  

00:00