Congressional leaders reacted to the Department of State’s admission on Thursday that a $400 million cash payment to Iran was contingent upon Iran’s release of U.S. prisoners.
U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) said that despite “seven months of denial” from the Obama administration, it has become clear that there is a direct link between Iran’s release of hostages and the United States transferring $400 million to Iran.
“The perception of a ransom payment has been replaced by the reality of one,” Fischer said. “Americans around the world are at increased risk because of this dangerous decision by the Obama administration.”
Fischer recently introduced the Judgment Fund and Terrorism Financing Prevention Act, S. 3213, to step up congressional oversight of payments from the Judgment Fund, such as the $400 million payment to Iran.
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said that the Department of State’s confirmation that the payment was contingent upon the prisoners’ release sends a dangerous message throughout the world.
“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,” Ernst said.
Ernst stressed that Iran “cannot be trusted,” which is why the United States should not have negotiated a nuclear deal that puts Iran on a path toward acquiring nuclear weapons in the future.
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said that the administration misled Congress about the $400 million cash payment, which was part of a larger $1.7 billion payment to Iran.
“(Thursday’s) admission by the State Department that it withheld its $400 million cash payment until the hostages were releases proves what I, and many others, have said from the beginning: the Obama administration paid a ransom to a terrorist regime that has backed deadly attacks against America and our allies,” Blunt said. “Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, and this ransom payment gives the regime both the resources and the incentive to target more Americans.”
Blunt added that the Obama administration owes the American people, and the families of those who have been killed in Iranian-backed terrorist attacks, truthful answers.