By Justin Fishel
The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time today that a $400 million payment to Iran was used as “leverage” in the release of several American prisoners.
Earlier this year, when White House announced that Americans had been freed from Iran, it also said that a separate, decades-old financial dispute over the sale of U.S. weapons to Iran had been settled, resulting in a $1.7 billion payment.
The first installment of that payment came in a $400 million cash delivery made up of Euros and Swiss Francs. State Department spokesman John Kirby said today that payment was withheld on Jan. 17 until just after the Iranians released the prisoners, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian.
“Because we had concerns that Iran may renege on the prisoner release…we of course naturally…sought to retain maximum leverage until after the Americans were released,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said today.
“It would have been foolish, imprudent and irresponsible for us not to try to maintain maximum leverage. So if you’re asking me was there a connection in that regard in the end game? I’m not going to deny that.”
The admission comes after the White House vigorously denied earlier this month that there was any quid pro quo or ransom for the U.S. prisoners. The administration has maintained that paying ransom is against U.S. policy and that this money belonged to the Iranians independently of the situation with the prisoners.
The administration has also previously stated that these negotiations were unrelated to each other and were fully disclosed at the time they occurred.
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