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Wednesday 20 Jan 2016 - 14:02 Makkah mean time-10-4-1437
Washington (IINA) – The White House dismissed Republican accusations that the U.S. paid Iran $1.7 billion as ransom to gain the release of American prisoners, saying the payment settled a long-standing claim by Tehran over military equipment, US media reported.
Republican critics of the payment are “wrong” to indicate that the payment amounts to "ransom," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Tuesday,
Earnest said it was “not a coincidence” that the financial issue was settled at the same time as the administration swapped prisoners with Tehran and lifted U.S. economic sanctions in a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program. But he said the release of the four Americans was not linked to the payment, and instead resulted from “diplomatic opportunities” that arose during the negotiations.
Before Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979, the U.S. accepted $400 million from its secular government as payment for military equipment, Earnest explained. However, once students overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took scores of American diplomats hostage, Washington refused to ship the hardware, and also never returned the money.
A spokeswoman for Speaker Paul Ryan criticized the administration for paying “ransom” to gain the release of a Christian pastor, a Washington Post reporter and two other Americans who had been held by Iran.
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