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Reports of $400 million paid in cash to Iran soon after four Americans were released from prison in January has breathed new life into charges that Washington paid a ransom for their freedom.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, was among those who seized on the timing and cloak-and-dagger delivery method, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, saying it proved suspicions that President Barack Obama's administration had tried to hide a payment for the four Americans, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian. GOP candidate Donald Trump called it an example of the administration's foreign policy failures.
"Obama administration sent plane load of cash to #Iran as ransom as part of deal on hostages. Just unreal," tweeted Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, a long-standing critic of the Iran talks.
In fact, the money was earmarked to settle a decades-old Iranian claim on the money, plus $1.3 billion in interest.