A Democratic lawmaker on Wednesday criticized a $1.7-billion payment the Obama administration made to Iran earlier this year, suggesting that the administration ignored a law that prohibits such payments to Iran until claims against the country from American victims of terror had been “dealt with to the satisfaction of the United States.”
“Those victims of terrorism who have outstanding claims and have not been satisfied in the case of Iran were cheated out of the opportunity,” New Jersey senator Bob Menendez said during a Senate Banking subcommittee hearing on the $1.7 billion payment, which represents a settlement for a decades-old arms deal gone awry.
Menendez, who voted against the Iran deal, suggested that the administration prioritized
“This action took place so precipitously,” he said. “I don’t think this section of the law that I cited was dealt with.”
Menendez expressed frustration that the administration had not brought up the $1.7 billion claim during his tenure on the Senate Foreign Relations committee and Banking committee.
“I am dismayed that when I was the chairman, and the ranking member, and as a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, and as a senior member of this Banking committee, that not once did the administration ever share that this was a pending item, and/or that it was in the midst of a potential negotiation,” he said.
The first $400 million installment of the $1.7 billion cash payment was sent to Iran around the time that the country released American hostages in January, leading to criticism that the money was for ransom, a charge that administration has denied.
Opponents of the payment have also voiced criticism that it was made wholly in cash, despite precedent for wire transfers, reported this weekend. Critics have claimed that the administration caved to Iranian demands for hard currency, which could be more easily used for terrorism.
“The only reason to insist that cash in the form of Euros and Swiss francs be provided to Iran—in Iran—is to permit that money to be distributed outside its borders in a way that cannot be traced,” said former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey in written testimony for the subcommittee hearing. “The activity that Iran pursues outside its borders that requires untraceable funds is terrorism.”
President Obama has said that the U.S. had to pay cash because the U.S. and Iran do not have a banking relationship, and “we could not wire the money” or “send them a check.”
