The Obama administration said Thursday that a $400-million cash payment to Iran seven months ago was contingent on the release of a group of American prisoners. But he said the U.S. withheld the delivery of the cash as leverage until Iran permitted the Americans to leave the country. "Reports of link between prisoner release & payment to Iran are completely false," Kirby tweeted at the time. Some Iranian officials immediately linked the payment to the release of four Americans, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who had been held in Iranian prisons. If a cash payment is contingent on a hostage release, it's a ransom.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 18, 2016 22:59 UTC