on the iran deal

[OldDog]

Obama's ransom payment to Iran:

The U.S. and Iran entered into secret negotiations to secure the release of Americans imprisoned in Iran in November 2014. . .The discussions. . .initially focused solely on a formula whereby Iran would swap the Americans detained in Tehran for Iranian nationals held in U.S. jails. . . .

But around Christmas, the discussions dovetailed with. . .the old arms deal. The Iranians were demanding the return of $400 million [and] also wanted billions of dollars as interest accrued since then. . . .

A report by an Iranian news site close to the Revolutionary Guard, the Tasnim agency, said the cash arrived in Tehran’s Mehrabad airport on the same day the [hostages] departed. Revolutionary Guard commanders boasted at the time that the Americans had succumbed to Iranian pressure. “Taking this much money back was in return for the release of the American spies,” said Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi, commander of the Guard’s Basij militia, on state media.

Since the cash shipment. . .the Revolutionary Guard has arrested two more Iranian-Americans. Tehran has also detained dual-nationals from France, Canada and the U.K. in recent months. . . .

Friends and family of [one of the hostages] believe the Iranians are seeking to increase their leverage to force another prisoner exchange or cash payment in the final six months of the Obama administration. . .Iranian officials have demanded in recent weeks the U.S. return $2 billion in Iranian funds that were frozen in New York in 2009. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the money should be given to victims of Iranian-sponsored terror attacks.


http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent...eed-1470181874

Hooray for smart diplomacy!