The US government confirmed on Thursday it initially withheld a $400m cash payment to Iran in January to maintain leverage over the release of American prisoners. The new statement followed a report in the Wall Street Journal stating that the delivery of the cash was contingent upon the American prisoners being freed. The events, which occurred in January, have recently been seized upon by Republicans as evidence that the Obama administration made a ransom payment to Iran in order to secure their release. “What the State Department admitted today was the dictionary definition of a ransom payment and a complete contradiction of what they were saying just two weeks ago. Clinton played a significant role in initiating early negotiations around the Iran nuclear deal.

Source: The Guardian August 18, 2016 21:56 UTC