Leaders of the House of Representatives reacted to reports on Wednesday that the Obama administration secretly paid $400 million to Iran when American hostages were being released from Tehran in January.
The Wall Street Journal reports that $400 million in cash that the administration secretly air lifted to Iran coincided with the release of four American hostages from Tehran.
U.S. Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) said that it has been clear all along that the administration’s nuclear agreement with Iran was “a deal with the devil,” but details since it was signed have made the deal “even scarier.”
“Earlier this year, we learned that the Obama administration led a campaign to deliberately mislead the public about the consequences of this deal, and this morning a bombshell report found that they negotiated a secret payment of $400 million to the Iranian government just as four Americans were released from Tehran – then tried to pass it off as a convenient coincidence,” Black said. “By continuing to kowtow to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, all while trying to hide their actions from Congress and the American people, the Obama administration will only put more lives at risk along the way. Americans deserve a commander in chief who will fight to destroy hostile Islamic regimes, instead of paying them off as this president has done.”
U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ), who is in the process of authoring legislation that would prevent taxpayer-funded payments to Iran, said that Iranian officials have been bragging that, “They coerced a significant ransom payment out of the Obama administration.”
“These damning reports put a bounty on every American,” Lance said. “We already knew the world was less safe from this Administration’s catering to Iranian demands, but this revelation is a stunning new low. And this news comes as many grieving U.S. families continue to await compensation for the murder of their loved ones by terrorists funded and supported by the Iranian government. The irony is sickening. I call on Congress to investigate this matter.”
U.S. Rep. Thomas Rooney (R-FL) added that the United States has a longstanding policy to not reward kidnappers or terrorists with cash.
“If this report is true, it would only further prove that the Obama administration’s intentions in Iran are more than misguided – they are dishonorable,” Rooney said. “Iran remains the largest state sponsor of terrorism, and I’m concerned that this money will go to fund its regional allies like the Assad regime in Syria and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.”