WASHINGTON—The Obama administration on Friday defended its decision to make a $400 million (U.S.) cash delivery to Iran contingent on the release of American prisoners, saying the payment wasn’t ransom because the Islamic Republic would have soon recouped the money one way or another. There was no way that Washington could have avoided repaying the money to Iran in the short-term, one of the officials insisted. The second American official argued that if there was any quid pro quo, it was the exchange of U.S. and Iranian prisoners. Iran also became miffed when it learned that the prisoners being released in the United States didn’t want to travel to Iran, the official said. “Reports of link between prisoner release & payment to Iran are completely false,” State Department spokesman John Kirby tweeted earlier this month.

Source: thestar August 19, 2016 22:30 UTC