Andrea Mitchell Reports: Inside the US-Iran struggle
Jay Solomon joins NBC's Andrea Mitchell to discuss his reporting on Iran, "secret deals" in the Middle East, and his new book "The Iran Wars":
U.S. Acknowledges Cash Payment to Iran Was ‘Leverage’ in Prisoner Release
State Department confirms U.S. refused to allow Iran to take $400 million cash payment until plane carrying freed Americans left Tehran
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration said for the first time on Thursday that its $400 million cash payment to Iran in January was used as “leverage” to gain the release of American prisoners, fueling criticism that the exchange amounted to the U.S. paying ransom.
State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the U.S. refused to allow Iran to take possession of the cash until a plane carrying the freed Americans had taken off...
Read moreU.S. Held Cash Until Iran Freed Prisoners
Exchange was tightly scripted and specifically timed to the prisoner release
Secretary of State John Kerry talked with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Vienna on Jan. 16. PHOTO: KEVIN LAMARQUE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON—New details of the $400 million U.S. payment to Iran earlier this year depict a tightly scripted exchange specifically timed to the release of several American prisoners held in Iran.
The picture emerged from accounts of U.S. officials and others briefed on the operation: 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. Once that happened, an Iranian cargo plane was allowed to bring the cash home from a Geneva airport that day.
President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials have said the payment didn’t amount to ransom, because the U.S. owed the money 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.
But the handling of the payment and its connection to the Americans’ release have raised questions among lawmakers and administration critics.
Morning Joe: Inside the $400M payment to Iran →
Jay joins Morning Joe to discuss about the $400M in cash that coincided with the release of four Americans detained in Iran:
Iran's Nuclear-Arms Guru Resurfaces
The Iranian scientist considered Tehran's atomic-weapons guru until he was apparently sidelined several years ago is back at work, according to United Nations investigators and U.S. and Israeli officials, sparking fresh concerns about the status of Iran's nuclear program. Read the full story