Iranian General: US Paid Iran a Ransom To Release ‘Spies’


Iranian General Mohammad Reza Naqdi is claiming that the US paid Iran 1.7 billion dollars in order to secure the release of American spies.

An Iranian general this week claimed that the $400 million debt and $1.3 billion in interest the US has agreed to pay Iran from a pre-revolution international legal tribunal, was actually a ransom to secure the release of dual citizens recently freed by Iran as part of a prisoner swap.

Tehran last week released four Iranian-American dual nationals, some of whom had been held for years, in a prisoner swap, while a fifth American was freed separately. In exchange, Washington granted clemency to seven Iranians. And it withdrew international arrest notices for 14 Iranians.

“This money was returned for the freedom of the US spy and it was not related to the (nuclear) negotiations,” Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a brigadier general in Iran’s Basij Force, said Wednesday. The Basij is under the command of the Revolutionary Guards.

“The annulment of sanctions against Iran’s Bank Sepah and reclaiming of $1.7 million of Iran’s frozen assets after 36 years showed that the US doesn’t understand anything but the language of force,” Naqdi added.

Source: Times of Isreal

If true, the gross price for the release of four Americans could set a dangerous precedent. If hostile nations believe they can get away with ransoming Americans to the government, entire regions could become centers for abductions.

Not only did this deal squander almost two billion dollars, it placed the safety of American journalists, tourists, and NGOs at jeopardy.



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