You will recall that the Obama administration defended the delivery of $1.7 billion in small unmarked bills to Iran as unavoidable because of a court case from the days of the Iran Revolution and their seizure of the American embassy and subsequent hostage crisis slowly wending through our courts.
But the administration fails to note that by American law that money was supposed to be held here until cases by Americans who suffered from Iranian terrorism made it through the courts:
[The Obama] administration has asserted that these were satisfied “by securing a favorable resolution on the interest owed to Iran.” What favorable resolution? In effect, the settlement cost the United States $2.7 billion—the $1.7 billion in cash plus about $1 billion in forgiven court judgments—to pay a claim that was not yet due, may not in fact have been owed, and may have been more than offset by the U.S. counterclaim that exceeded Iran’s own claim.
Or are you confused enough to believe that a newly responsible and friendly mullah-run Iran magically reset by the Iran deal will ship pallets of cash to America once those cases by Americans aimed at Iran are settled?
All hail Smart Diplomacy!
