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Cash to Iran
Topic Started: Aug 2 2016, 05:42 PM (653 Views)
George K
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Finally
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent-cash-to-iran-as-americans-were-freed-1470181874
Quote:
 
The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release of four Americans detained in Tehran, according to U.S. and European officials and congressional staff briefed on the operation afterward.

Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran on an unmarked cargo plane, according to these officials. The U.S. procured the money from the central banks of the Netherlands and Switzerland, they said.

The money represented the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, center, with family members in Germany after his release from prison in Iran in January. Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
The settlement, which resolved claims before an international tribunal in The Hague, also coincided with the formal implementation that same weekend of the landmark nuclear agreement reached between Tehran, the U.S. and other global powers the summer before.

“With the nuclear deal done, prisoners released, the time was right to resolve this dispute as well,” President Barack Obama said at the White House on Jan. 17—without disclosing the $400 million cash payment.

Senior U.S. officials denied any link between the payment and the prisoner exchange. They say the way the various strands came together simultaneously was coincidental, not the result of any quid pro quo.

“As we’ve made clear, the negotiations over the settlement of an outstanding claim…were completely separate from the discussions about returning our American citizens home,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. “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.”
...
Iranian press reports have quoted senior Iranian defense officials describing the cash as a ransom payment. The Iranian foreign ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The $400 million was paid in foreign currency because any transaction with Iran in U.S. dollars is illegal under U.S. law. Sanctions also complicate Tehran’s access to global banks.
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Mikhailoh
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Well, I believe him. Don't you?
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George K
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Finally
"This is Iran-Contra on steroids, the other difference being that President Obama was in on the scandal from the start."

- Steven Green
Edited by George K, Aug 2 2016, 06:28 PM.
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George K
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When is a Ransom not a Ransom?
Quote:
 
- Jonah Goldberg

One of my all-time favorite lines is from Henry Thoreau: “Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.”

It came to mind this week when the White House and State Department insisted that the charge the U.S. paid a ransom to get back American hostages was purely circumstantial. Sometimes, a $400 million pay-off in laundered money, delivered in the dead of night in an unmarked cargo plane isn’t what it looks like.

January 16 was “Implementation Day” for the nuclear deal between the United States and Iran, in which the state sponsor of terror received sanctions relief possibly worth as much as $150 billion — which would be roughly equivalent to 40 percent of its GDP — in exchange for some guarantees against developing nuclear weapons . . . for a while. (The merits, and even the nature, of the Iran nuclear deal are hotly disputed, but that’s a topic for another time.)

That same day, the Obama administration announced a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Iran, in which we traded 7 Iranian criminals and removed another 14 from an Interpol “most wanted” list. In exchange, they returned four innocent Americans, illegally held by the Iranian regime. Back then, Secretary of State John Kerry boasted about what a masterful diplomatic breakthrough it was. Those Americans were freed thanks to “the relationships forged and the diplomatic channels unlocked over the course of the nuclear talks,” Kerry preened.

Yes, well maybe. But few things really cement a solid working relationship like $400 million in cash. Kerry failed to mention that part in his press conferences or Congressional testimony. In fact, the Obama administration kept the whole thing a secret.

The White House concedes that it all looks very bad. But it insists this was in no way a ransom payment; the trout got in the milk for perfectly normal reasons. You see, the Iranians were suing for funds deposited with the Pentagon in 1979 for a weapons purchase that was later blocked when the ayatollahs deposed the Shah. The $400 million wasn’t a ransom; it was simply the first installment of a $1.7 billion dollar settlement of that dispute. “We would not, we have not, we will not pay ransom to secure the release of U.S. citizens,” top White House flack Josh Earnest insisted. That the money was delivered to coincide with the release of our hostages is little more than a funny coincidence.

And shame on you for thinking otherwise, Earnest seemed to be saying Wednesday. The $400 million drop-off was actually a great success for smart diplomacy, because it saved taxpayers “potentially billions” more if the arbitration over the matter hadn’t gone our way.

Still, one wonders why, if it was such a laudable and innocent money-saving maneuver, they kept it all secret from the American people.

Here’s one possible reason from the Wall Street Journal exposé: “U.S. officials also acknowledge that Iranian negotiators on the prisoner exchange said they wanted the cash to show they had gained something tangible.”

Catch that? The Obama administration did not think the huge pallet of Swiss francs, euros, and other currencies dropped off in the dead of night was a ransom payment — they just wanted the Iranians to think it was.

And they bought it! “Taking this much money back was in return for the release of the American spies,” Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi, a Revolutionary Guard commander, boasted on Iranian state media.

Sometimes you just have to marvel at the way smart people can talk themselves into stupidity. The whole point of not paying ransoms to terrorists isn’t to save money. The reason we don’t pay kidnappers is that we understand that it will only encourage more kidnapping. So letting the Iranians think the $400 million was a ransom payment is doubly asinine, because it fooled exactly the wrong people, the wrong way. Who cares if the Obama administration “knew” it wasn’t a ransom? What mattered was to make it clear to the Iranians that it wasn’t a ransom, not give them every reason to believe it was.

Now, because of this pas-de-deux of asininity, not only have we given the Iranians untraceable walking-around money to give to its terrorist proxies, we’ve also given them every incentive to kidnap more Americans — which is exactly what they’ve been doing. But at least the folks at the State Department can sleep soundly knowing that they didn’t really pay a ransom — it just looks that way.
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George K
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Finally
Andrew McCarthy:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438744/iran-ransom-payment-president-obama-broke-law-sending-cash-iran
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Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

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Rainman
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Fulla-Carp
Quote:
 
The Iranians have bragged that the astonishing cash payment was a ransom - and Obama has been telling us for months that we can trust the Iranians. The hostages were released the same day the cash arrived. One of the hostages has reported that the captives were detained an extra several hours at the airport and told they would not be allowed to leave until the arrival of another plane - inferentially, the unmarked cargo plane ferrying the cash
I hate these kinds of stories. It deflects from more important news and issues.
Good thing this will be forgotten in a couple of days by the MSM.
/sarcasm
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George K
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Finally
It was all a coincidence:
Quote:
 
U.S. officials wouldn’t let Iranians take control of the money until a Swiss Air Force plane carrying three freed Americans departed from Tehran on Jan. 17, the officials said. Once that happened, an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to bring the cash back from a Geneva airport that day, according to the accounts.

President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials have said the payment didn’t amount to ransom, because the money was owed by the U.S. to Iran as part of a longstanding dispute linked to a failed arms deal from the 1970s. U.S. officials have said that the prisoner release and cash transfer took place through two separate diplomatic channels….

Once the Americans were “wheels up” on the morning of Jan. 17, Iranian officials in Geneva were allowed to take custody of the $400 million in currency, according to officials briefed on the exchange.
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- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Never mind THAT..UKRAINE AND THAT TRUMP GUY!!!
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Copper
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Shortstop

Rudy Giuliani doesn't know when 9/11 happened!
The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
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kluurs
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Fulla-Carp
Depends on how one defines "is"... Ransom is being forced to give my money for something I want. This was giving them their own money.
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George K
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Finally
kluurs
Aug 17 2016, 05:53 PM
Depends on how one defines "is"... Ransom is being forced to give my money for something I want. This was giving them their own money.
Yes.

On the exact day hour that the prisoners were released, after the money had been held for 30+ years.
Edited by George K, Aug 17 2016, 05:54 PM.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Axtremus
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HOLY CARP!!!
George K
Aug 17 2016, 05:54 PM
kluurs
Aug 17 2016, 05:53 PM
Depends on how one defines "is"... Ransom is being forced to give my money for something I want. This was giving them their own money.
Yes.

On the exact day hour that the prisoners were released, after the money had been held for 30+ years.
The way you present it, it sounds more like the Iranians are paying us ransom -- by releasing our people just to get their own money back.
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George K
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Axtremus
Aug 17 2016, 06:29 PM
George K
Aug 17 2016, 05:54 PM
kluurs
Aug 17 2016, 05:53 PM
Depends on how one defines "is"... Ransom is being forced to give my money for something I want. This was giving them their own money.
Yes.

On the exact day hour that the prisoners were released, after the money had been held for 30+ years.
The way you present it, it sounds more like the Iranians are paying us ransom -- by releasing our people just to get their own money back.
Keeping money as ransom in the hopes of getting hostages.

There's an interesting concept.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Axtremus
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HOLY CARP!!!
State Dept. confirms $400 million Iran payment conditioned on hostage release
http://politi.co/2bBDLMq
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Larry
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Mmmmmmm, pie!
You mean... the same state department that has been caught red handed lying to cover up Hillary's and Obama's ineptness and crime?

Let me tell you how that *doesn't* work: If it had been "conditioned on hostage release", then we would have required them to release the hostages BEFORE we gave them the money.

That's not how it happened.

How it happened: The hostages were kept waiting on the runway until the plane load of money had landed and the Iranians had the money in their hands. Only then were the hostages released.

In other words, the hostages remained hostages until the ransom had been paid, and the state department is lying - as usual.
Of the Pokatwat Tribe

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Copper
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Larry
Aug 18 2016, 05:15 PM

In other words, the hostages remained hostages until the ransom had been paid, and the state department is lying - as usual.

And you paid the salaries of the guys who did it.
The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
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Axtremus
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HOLY CARP!!!
State Dept.: 'No apologies' for using Iran payment as 'leverage'
http://politi.co/2b2LsOp
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George K
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Finally
And, it was cash, The President told us, because of sanctions:
Quote:
 
"The reason that we had to give them cash is precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions and we do not have a banking relationship with Iran, that we couldn't send them a check and we could not wire the money," he said. "And it is not at all clear to me why it is that cash, as opposed to a check or a wire transfer, has made this into a new story. Maybe because it kind of feels like a spy novel ... because cash was exchanged."

Well, not so much:
Quote:
 
The United States made at least two separate payments to the Iranian government via wire transfer within the last 14 months, a Treasury Department spokesman confirmed Saturday, contradicting explanations from President Barack Obama that such payments were impossible.

Responding to questions at an Aug. 4 press conference about a $400 million payment delivered in cash to the Iranian government, Obama said, “[T]he reason that we had to give them cash is precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions and we do not have a banking relationship with Iran that we couldn't send them a check and we could not wire the money.”

But a Treasury Department spokesman acknowledged on Saturday that on at least two occasions, the U.S. did make payments to the Iranian government via wire transfer.

Which, of course, raises some interesting questions:
Quote:
 
“Oh, I don’t have any question that Iran wants the money in cash because they wanted it faster than what a wire transfer would be and it’s fungible,” Lankford said. “They announced pretty quickly afterward that they were expanding their defense and their military budget by $1.7 billion dollars, an exact amount that we had just sent over to them. So I don’t think that was accidental.”

“But when you give cash, we can’t track,” he continued. “Did that go to Hezbollah? Did that go to the Russians? Did that go to the coup in Yemen? There’s no way to be able to track that.”

Republicans, including Lankford, have also suggested that the $1.7 billion delivery constituted a “ransom” payment because it was delivered on the same day that U.S. prisoners were released by Iran. The president dismissed such claims during his Aug. 4 press conference as “the manufacturing of outrage” and said unequivocally, "we don’t pay ransom for hostages.”
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

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Copper
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George K
Sep 18 2016, 04:51 PM
Quote:
 
“But when you give cash, we can’t track,” he continued.
Every penny of that cash has a little of Mr. Obama's DNA attached.

We can track it.

And it will come back to us one bullet at a time.
The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Copper
Sep 18 2016, 04:57 PM
George K
Sep 18 2016, 04:51 PM
Quote:
 
“But when you give cash, we can’t track,” he continued.
Every penny of that cash has a little of Mr. Obama's DNA attached.

We can track it.

And it will come back to us one bullet at a time.
Or missile.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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George K
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Finally
It just keeps getting better.

Quote:
 
The Obama administration agreed to back the lifting of United Nations sanctions on two Iranian state banks blacklisted for financing Iran’s ballistic-missile program on the same day in January that Tehran released four American citizens from prison, according to U.S. officials and congressional staff briefed on the deliberations.

The U.N. sanctions on the two banks weren’t initially to be lifted until 2023, under a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers that went into effect on Jan. 16.

The U.N. Security Council’s delisting of the two banks, Bank Sepah and Bank Sepah International, was part of a package of tightly scripted agreements—the others were a controversial prisoner swap and transfer of $1.7 billion in cash to Iran—that were finalized between the U.S. and Iran on Jan. 17, the day the Americans were freed.

The new details of the delisting have emerged after administration officials briefed lawmakers earlier this month on the U.S. decision.

According to senior U.S. officials, a senior State Department official, Brett McGurk, and a representative of the Iranian government signed three documents in Geneva on the morning of Jan. 17.

One document committed the U.S. to dropping criminal charges against 21 Iranian nationals, and Tehran to releasing the Americans imprisoned in Iran.

Another committed the U.S. to immediately transfer $400 million in cash to the Iranian regime and arrange the delivery within weeks of two subsequent cash payments totaling $1.3 billion to settle a decades-old legal dispute over a failed arms deal.

The U.S. agreed in a third document to support the immediate delisting of the two Iranian banks, according to senior U.S. officials. In the hours after the documents were signed at a Swiss hotel, the different elements of the agreement went forward: The Americans were released, Iran took possession of the $400 million in cash, and the U.N. Security Council removed sanctions on Bank Sepah and Bank Sepah International, these officials said.

“Lifting the sanctions on Sepah was part of the package,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on the deliberations. “The timing of all this isn’t coincidental. Everything was linked to some degree.”
So many coincidences...
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Amazing.

I wonder how Donald would have handled that. Obama does not seem to have lost his conviction that if we are nice to the world they will be nice back. In fact, they will pick our pocket and come back for more.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
Mikhailoh
Sep 30 2016, 08:04 AM
I wonder how Donald would have handled that.
Whatever he did, it would have been the greatest thing ever. Believe me, you'd be amazed at how great it was. We would have won so much, the Iranians would have been begging us to take the money back and build golf courses in the desert with the money. You truly wouldn't believe at just how amazing it was.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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Renauda
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HOLY CARP!!!
:lol2:
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Rainman
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Fulla-Carp
No, I think Trump would have said at the outset of this "negotiation":

"Hey, Eyeraynyans, you can just F-off, Bigly!!
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