$400M Payment to Iran, Americans Freed, Not a Ransom
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The White House on Wednesday denied suggestions that a $400 million cash payment to Iran in January was a “ransom” to free four Americans being held in Tehran — characterizing the move as coincidental.
That sum was actually part of a $1.7 billion settlement to Iran for a decades-long legal dispute that was before an international tribunal in The Hague, according to State Department spokesman John Kirby.
“As we’ve made clear, the negotiations over the settlement of an outstanding claim at the Hague Tribunal were completely separate from the discussions about returning our American citizens home,” Kirby said in a statement. “Not only were the two negotiations separate, they were conducted by different teams on each side, including, in the case of the Hague claims, by technical experts involved in these negotiations for many years.”
The State Department formally announced the settlement terms on Jan. 17 — a day after the four Americans were freed. A fifth American was also released, although that was not part of a prisoner swap that included the U.S. releasing seven people charged with violating sanctions against Iran.
The four Americans were identified as Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter who had been convicted of espionage last year; Amir Hekmati, a former Marine who had been held since 2011; Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor imprisoned since 2012; and a man only named as Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari.
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