WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Associated Press Thursday reported that the “State Dept. says $400 million cash payment to Iran was contingent on American prisoners’ release.” U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), a combat veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement following the news:
“The confirmation from the State Department today that $400 million to Iran was contingent on the release of American prisoners sends a dangerous message throughout the world. The Obama Administration has continued to prove it will appease our adversaries and fill the pockets of a regime responsible for the deaths of American soldiers on the battlefield in Iraq, and a government that calls for the destruction of our closest ally, Israel.
“The most alarming impact of this $400 million is not the possibility that Iran may use it to build more improvised explosives to kill American troops, or continue their pursuit of a nuclear weapon, it is the impact it has on Americans around the world whose enemies now know the price they’re worth to this Administration if held captive.
“As I have stressed before, the bottom line is that Iran cannot be trusted, which is why we should not have made the misguided deal that sets them on a path toward acquiring nuclear weapons and puts Americans and our allies at risk.”
Iran got $400 million plus $1.3 billion in interest owed to it by the U.S. from a deal made decades ago for military supplies. The state department said the money was withheld at the last minute to make sure Iran released U.S. hostages, using the term “leverage”. U.S. Republican politicians are calling the payment “ransom”, echoing Ernst, in saying a dangerous precedent may have been set and calling for hearings into the matter.
