GOP senators push Kerry on Iran payment

Three Republican senators are demanding Secretary of State John Kerry hand over details on the $400 million cash payment made to Iran earlier this year. 

Republican Sens. Mark Kirk (Ill.), David Perdue (Ga.) and Johnny Isakson (Ga.) sent a letter to Kerry about the money, which opponents of a separate nuclear agreement are calling a ransom payment. 

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"We question the timing — concurrent with the release of five American hostages — as well as the method and lack of disclosure of the payment," they wrote. “We are concerned that this payment, along with the swap for seven Iranian prisoners detained in the U.S., has and will continue to encourage further hostage-taking of Americans by Iran.”

The letter, which was sent Monday but released Tuesday, comes after The Wall Street Journal reported new details of the payment, made in January, including that it was made in cash. 

Opponents of the 2015 international agreement on Iran's nuclear program have seized on the fact that the payment coincided with the release of the American hostages.

The administration downplayed the newspaper's report, noting that the payment was the first part of a $1.7 billion settlement to resolve a dispute surrounding a decades-old arms deal and that it was publicly disclosed at the time.

But the three GOP senators outlined more than a dozen questions they want Kerry to answer about the payment, including how it was shipped, why more information was not given to lawmakers, and why the administration agreed to make the payment when Tehran still owes Americans money. 

They also want to know whether the payment was linked to the release of the American hostages, whether the money will be used to support terrorism, and whether administration violated sanctions by making the payment. 

"This administration must uphold the letter and spirit of U.S. sanctions policy towards Iran and hold the government in Tehran accountable for its actions," they added. 

Republicans have homed in on the payment as they defend 24 Senate seats in November, knocking Democratic candidates in a handful of states over the money and the separate Iran nuclear deal. 

Less than half of Americans approve of President Obama's handling of foreign policy, according to RealClearPolitics.