BREAKING: Rezaeian and 3 others released in Iran

[airplanemechanic]

Nope, same thing. Just ask the prosecutor who put them in prison for almost a decade! But Obama let them go, don't worry. Your fellow buddies are free to commit more crimes.

 

[dani67]

last picture of the radical republican for iran deal and swap prisoners

 

[JimH52]

Actually, it is. Obama himself stated we would go after terrorists and those who aid and support them.

One in the same, according to your Obumbo.

The sanctions are gone. Get a grip, Mr Chump supporter.

 

[airplanemechanic]

Oh yes, now Iran can buy 114 Airbus jets.

 

[waltky]

'An astonishing figure' to get hostages back...

$1.7B Iran Payout May Be ‘Ransom’ for Americans’ Release
January 19, 2016 | Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) suggested Monday that the U.S. settlement of a 37-year-old legal claim that will leave the Iranian regime $1.7 billion richer may have amounted to part of a “ransom” for the release of five Americans held in Iran.

Secretary of State John Kerry took pains in several media interviews to stress that three major weekend developments related to Iran were unrelated. They were the arrival of the nuclear deal’s “implementation day” and ensuing lifting of sanctions; the release of pastor Saeed Abedini and four other Americans incarcerated in Iran; and the settling of the outstanding Iranian claim worth $400 million, plus an additional $1.3 billion in interest. Kerry told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer the claim payout was “completely separate from what we were doing with respect to the nuclear agreement,” and that the nuclear deal and prisoner release were “not linked distinctly.” He also told Fox News it was “absolutely a coincidence” that the nuclear deal sanctions relief and release of the prisoners had occurred on the same day, explaining that the release could in fact have taken place several months ago, but was delayed by “a snag.”

Cotton, who appeared on Blitzer’s show after Kerry, noted that the secretary of state had said the $1.7 billion payout was a “stand-alone agreement” and not part of the nuclear deal. “Unless,” Cotton said, “it’s just part of the ransom that we had to pay to get innocent Americans back from Iranian captivity.” According to Kerry, the $400 million was the value of a trust fund used by Iran’s pre-1979 government to buy arms from the United States. After the Islamic revolution, it was frozen when regime-backed students seized the U.S. Embassy and took 52 Americans hostage. “That $400 million, under the law, collects interest compounded over the years,” he added. Kerry characterized the $1.3 billion in interest as a bargain for American taxpayers, saying that the U.S. was actually “liable for about $6 billion or so.”

The negotiations that resulted in the $1.7 billion settlement were carried out through a bilateral claims tribunal set up by the Algiers Accord, a deal struck with Tehran in the closing days of the Carter administration that led to the ending of the 444-day hostage crisis. Controversially, the Algiers Accord also prevented the 52 freed hostages from suing Iran, and U.S. administrations over the decades since then have wielded that provision to block lawsuits. Blitzer asked Kerry whether the U.S. in discussing the Iranian claim had brought up the issue of compensation for the 52 Americans. “Did you raise the issue of the 52 American diplomats held hostage?” he asked. “We’ve constantly talked about that and other things,” Kerry replied. “Are they going to pay any?” “I can’t tell you what the outcome is going to be because I don’t know.”

Cotton took issue with Kerry’s reasoning, noting that the deal involved weapons sales to a pro-American government in Tehran which was then overthrown in the violent Islamic revolution. “And we’re rewarding them now by giving them back that previous regime’s money – with interest,” he declared. Picking up on Kerry’s comment that the $1.3 billion in interest was required under the law, Cotton said, “I’m not sure which law he’s referring to, but it sounds to me like he’s more interested in being the lawyer for the government of Iran than he is for standing up for” the rights of the 52 former hostages.

‘An astonishing figure’

See also:

Kerry on the Still-Missing Bob Levinson: ‘I Feel Horrible For The Family’
January 19, 2016 | Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday the Iranians were “cooperating” in efforts to trace the missing retired FBI agent Bob Levinson, acknowledging how hard it must be for his family since five other Americans held by Iran have now been released.

“I feel horrible for the family,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “I know it’s very, very difficult for his family to see these other folks come back and not have answers.” Levinson’s wife of 40 years, Christine, told reporters on Monday the family learned from television news reports that he would not be among the Americans returning from Iran. “We had to learn it from the TV ourselves, and that's very disappointing and heartbreaking,” she said.

Asked whether he thinks Levinson, who went missing in Iran’s Kish island in March 2007, is still alive, Kerry told Blitzer the administration was “proceeding as if he is. We want him to be. We hope he is.” “We don’t have capacity at this point to draw any kinds of conclusions,” he added. “But we are working on it, and the Iranians are cooperating.” Kerry said the Iranian government has “agreed to continue to help us try to find the whereabouts and whatever may or may not have happened to Bob Levinson. We are going to continue that effort.”

Asked whether he thought the Iranians had him in their custody, Kerry did not answer directly, saying simply, “We do not have evidence at this point as to where he is. We have been very clear about that. We are tracing every lead …” In a statement on Sunday, President Obama hailed the release from Iran of Pastor Saeed Abedini, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, and two other men whose imprisonment in Iran had not been widely reported – researcher Matthew Trevithick and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari. “Iran has agreed to deepen our coordination as we work to locate Robert Levinson – missing from Iran for more than eight years,” he said. “Even as we rejoice in the safe return of others, we will never forget about Bob. Each and every day, but especially today, our hearts are with the Levinson family, and we will not rest until their family is whole again.”

MORE

Related:

Obama's Prisoner Swap Has 'Put a Price on the Head of Every American Abroad'
January 19, 2016 | "Well, I'm happy that they are coming home," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said of the four American prisoners released by Iran over the weekend in exchange for the U.S. pardoning or dropping charges against seven Iranians and giving up extradition proceedings on 14 others.

A fifth American was released separately. "My problem is this," Rubio told Fox News's Greta Van Susteren Monday night. "Number one, they should never have been hostages in the first place. None of them did anything wrong. And number two, I think that Iran very deliberately seized them because they know that under Barack Obama, you can trade Americans for people you want back. "And so here we have five innocent people, who were traded in exchange for seven guilty people who were condemned in courts of law in the freest judicial system in the world. "And I just think the president continues to set Bergdahl, the Cuban trade and now this. Now you put a price on the head of every American abroad in terms of being kidnapped or captured by unfriendly government."

Rubio acknowledged that the seven Iranian prisoners freed by the Obama administration were not accused of violent crimes. They had violated U.S.-imposed sanctions intended to impede Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "The bottom line is, they were convicted of wrongdoing," Rubio said. "So here you are, seven people who were convicted for legitimate wrongdoing, traded in exchange for five people who did nothing wrong. A few of them hadn't even been charged. There was no understanding. "One of them, there wasn't even public acknowledgment they were there. And it's just outrageous. It really is. But, again, I think you're going to see more of this as long as Barack Obama is president. Because it's now clear to everyone that he makes trades with the Taliban, made trades with the Castro brothers and now this. You are now creating an incentive for more governments and more countries to try to -- and more terrorist groups and others to try to get their hands on Americans.

"But, look, we are glad that they are coming home. It took way too long. And if anything else, this should remind us and open our eyes to the fact of who Iran truly is. They are not an ally, they are not a friendly government and they are not from our government's perspective even a civilized government. They are basically a terror government run by radical Shia cleric, who are willing to do whatever it takes and in this case, you know, hold these five Americans who have done nothing wrong." Asked what he would have done to bring the captive Americans home, Rubio said he would have refused to even enter negotiations with Iran without first resolving the prisoner situation. "Not at the back end, at the front end," he said.

MORE

 

[airplanemechanic]

Obamas behavior has shown the world that there are monetary advantages to kidnapping Americans. Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism, was one of Bush's axis of evil and it was stated we would never negotiate with terrorists. Obama has no problem with negotiating with his fellow Mooslims terrorists.

Good job Obama. Don't do it through strength like Reagan, do it through appeasement and paying a ransom, It seems to be the only thing you're good at.

 

[waltky]

Iranians consider $1.7B US Payout Was Ransom...

Head of Iranian Militia: $1.7B US Payout Was Ransom for Jailed Americans
January 21, 2016 | The head of the Iranian regime’s notorious Basij militia claimed Wednesday that Iran had received $1.7 billion from the U.S. in exchange for the release of imprisoned Americans, contradicting the Obama administration’s denial that the settling of a decades-old legal claim amounted to a ransom.

Tehran’s semi-official Fars news agency quoted Basij commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi as saying in an address to militia members that the U.S. agreed to pay the money to buy freedom for what the news agency called “its spies held by Iran.” Fars headlined its report, “Basij Commander: U.S. Bought Freedom of Spies by Releasing $1.7 bln of Iran’s Frozen Assets.” “The annulment of sanctions against Iran’s Bank Sepah and reclaiming of $1.7 mln [sic] of Iran’s frozen assets after 36 years showed that the U.S. doesn’t understand anything but the language of force," Naqdi said. “This money was returned for the freedom of the U.S. spy.”

Iran at the weekend released Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, convicted of espionage last year; pastor Saeed Abedini, sentenced in early 2013 to an eight-year prison term after being convicted of “crimes against national security”; former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, sentenced to death (later overturned) for spying; researcher Matthew Trevithick; and an Iranian-American, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari. Rezaian, Abedini and Hekmati have long been viewed by supporters as “hostages,” along with the still unaccounted-for former FBI agent, Robert Levinson.

Also at the weekend, the administration announced the settlement of an Iranian legal claim arising from pre-1979 weapons supply agreements, plus an additional $1.3 billion in accumulated interest. This is evidently the sum referred to by Naqdi and in the Fars report headline. The timing of the two weekend events – and a third, the formal easing of sanctions against Iran as a result of the arrival of “implementation day” for the nuclear deal – prompted speculation of links between them, and the possibility that the payout was tantamount to a ransom.

MORE