Sen. Marco Rubio is demanding answers from the Obama administration on secret cash payments to Iran that he says have endangered the U.S. and its allies.
In a letter to President Obama, first reported by Fox News and obtained by Washington Examiner on Sunday, the Florida senator expressed his dismay at the lack of transparency involved in the administration’s $400 million payment sent to Iran in January as a “ransom payment” to free four U.S. hostages.
Rubio asks the president several questions focusing on whether his administration followed the proper procedures for sending the cash payments to Iran, and whether there have been any other unreported transactions recently conducted with Tehran.
“Each day brings new revelations about your Administration’s efforts to deceive Congress and the American people regarding payments of billions of dollars to the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism,” Rubio wrote. “The American people do not believe the story that your Administration did not provide Iran an illicit and potentially illegal ransom payment.”
Pointing out that it is the Obama administration’s own hostage policy that states paying off hostage-takers endangers Americans citizens, Rubio said that it is “astounding that your Administration would even contemplate providing almost $2 billion in cash to a terrorist-sponsoring regime as a ransom payment.”
While Iran pocketed the money, Rubio said, Terhan has continued to hold and take more Americans hostage. He also warned that the money could be used to fund its military and Iran’s terrorist proxies in the Middle East.
In early August, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. secretly sent $400 million in cash to Iran as the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement on the same day that four American prisoners were released from Iran. The settlement seeks to resolve a late-1970s dispute over a failed arms deal before the fall of Iran’s last Shah.
The Obama administration initially claimed the payment was part of a separate deal from the prisoner release, but that changed weeks later when State Department spokesman John Kirby said the the Obama administration sought “maximum leverage” to secure the hostage release. The administration has defended its use of cash payments because of sanctions and limits placed on Iran that hamstrings its access to the international financial system.
Christopher Backemeyer, a deputy assistant secretary of state for Iranian affairs, told lawmakers at a hearing this week that Iran wanted the money immediately, but could not say if Iran had asked for cash. He did, however, say he believes the money is going towards “critical economic needs” in Iran.
When it was reported in September that the U.S. transferred another $1.3 billion in cash after the first payment Republican lawmakers jumped into action to block in the future what they say are ransom payments.
Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate are preparing legislation to prevent similar payments. Rubio is a co-sponsor of Senate bill.
Read Rubio’s letter bellow:
Rubio letter on Iran transaction
