Overview
- President Trump, who delivered a televised update on the Iran conflict Wednesday night, repeated that Barack Obama "gave $1.7 billion in cash" to Iran.
- Officials have long said the money was a 2016 settlement paid from the U.S. Treasury’s Judgment Fund to resolve claims dating to the 1970s, returning Iranian funds that had been frozen.
- Because sanctions cut Iran off from normal banking channels, the U.S. delivered the settlement in physical foreign currency, a method Treasury spokeswoman Dawn Selak said reflected the reach of those sanctions.
- An initial $400 million arrived on January 17, 2016, the same day Iran released four American detainees, and the administration later said the timing was used as leverage, with the remaining $1.3 billion paid in the following weeks.
- Coverage varies across outlets, with conservative sites highlighting Trump’s attack on Obama’s Iran deal as a “disaster,” while Newsweek and others emphasize Obama’s public denial that the payment was ransom and his explanation for using cash.