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State Dept: We Have ‘Nothing to Be Ashamed About’ After Iran Cash Payment

September 7, 2016

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday that there is nothing for the Obama administration to be ashamed about after it paid Iran $1.7 billion in cash.

Fox News’ James Rosen asked Toner how the payment was revealed publicly and the criticism the State Department and Obama administration have received since then. Toner answered by boasting about the agreements the United States has made with Iran, including the nuclear deal, the release of American hostages, and the $1.7 billion payment to the Iranian government.

The U.S. paid Iran $1.3 billion in interest from a decades-old failed arms deal days after giving an initial $400 million on Jan. 17 to settle the claim, the Wall Street Journal revealed Tuesday night. The administration said it used the $400 million as leverage to secure the release of four American hostages from Iran, leading critics to say the money was a ransom payment.

"We also, at the same time, were able to reach an agreement on this outstanding claim through the Hague tribunal that we would have had to go to settlement on, and we believe that we did so in a way that was favorable to the American taxpayer on money that, again, as I’ve said, we owed Iran," Toner said.

"And ultimately, we were also able to return home those American citizens who were detained in Iran–an effort that, while separate and apart from our work on the [Iran nuclear deal], was something that the secretary of state pursued at every possible juncture with the Iranians," Toner added. "We believe those three successes were in the national security interest of the United States and were among the core priorities of the Department of State, and we have nothing to be ashamed about, about any of those actions."