Kerry defends $400 million payment to Iran

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday defended the Obama administration’s payment of $400 million in cash to Iran, denying it was a ransom for the release of American prisoners by Tehran or tied to the Iran nuclear deal. “The United States does not pay ransoms,” Kerry told said in the Argentine capital, Buenos […]

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday defended the Obama administration’s payment of $400 million in cash to Iran, denying it was a ransom for the release of American prisoners by Tehran or tied to the Iran nuclear deal.
“The United States does not pay ransoms,” Kerry told said in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.
He said the transfer, which came out of a long-standing Iranian claim at the Iran-US Claims Tribunal in The Hague, was negotiated on a separate track from the nuclear deal.
“We believe this agreement for the $400 million that was paid in interest and settlement of the case actually saved the American taxpayer potentially billions of dollars,” Kerry said.
“There was no benefit to the United States of America to drag this out,” he said.
Republicans, including Donald Trump, have attacked the Obama administration over the payment, questioning the timing of the transfer.