President Barack Obama feigned ignorance as to why Republicans were upset by a Wall Street Journal report that pallets of cash were delivered to Iran the same day as the American hostages were released.
Obama explained that pallets of cash were used in the exchange because the United States doesn’t have a banking relationship with Iran.
“[W]e couldn’t send them a check, and we could not wire the money,” he said during a press conference at the Pentagon today.
He insisted that the administration was transparent about the payments to Iran, even though the knowledge about the manner of the payment was not previously disclosed. But Obama mocked the notion that the new details made any difference.
“It is not at all clear to me why it is that cash, as opposed to a check or a wire transfer has made this into a new story,” he said. “Maybe because it kind of feels like some kind of spy novel or you know, some you know, crime novel because cash was exchanged.”
He said that notion that the payment to Iran was a hostage payment was not true, insisting that it “defies logic” that his administration would do so.
Obama ridiculed Republicans for trying to raise questions about the deal, asserting that they had lost the debate. The only real news regarding his nuclear deal with Iran, he said, would be if opponents to the deal finally admitted they were wrong.
“Now that would be a shock. That would be impressive,” he said.
Obama also insisted that Israel agreed with him that the Iran deal was working, despite their protest.
“The country that was most opposed to the deal has acknowledged that this has been a game changer, and that Iran has abided by the deal and they no longer have the short-term breakout capacity that would allow them to develop nuclear weapons,” he said.
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