Lankford seeks answers on Iran payment

By Louis Nelson

09/08/16 12:00 AM EDT

Sen. James Lankford wants answers from President Barack Obama on cash payments delivered to the Iranian government, and he wants them in writing by Sept. 19.

In a letter sent to the White House on Thursday, Lankford (R-Okla.) laid out a set of 13 questions for the president, mostly pertaining to the cash payments delivered to Iran, the first of when have been labeled by many as a ransom payment to secure the release of U.S. prisoners.

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“You promised transparency at the beginning of your administration, which is an essential and reasonable expectation of an open Republic like our nation. The American people should know how their hard-earned tax dollars were spent and the details of agreements that were made on their behalf,” Lankford wrote in his letter. “Every American’s signature was implicitly place on that Agreement by your administration, so every American should have access to the facts of the agreement.”

The $1.7 billion cash delivery that forms the center of Lankford’s concerns settles a long-contested dispute over payment for military equipment that dates back to before Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. With relations warming slightly between the two nations as negotiations surrounding the Iran nuclear deal wrapped up, the U.S. agreed to a settlement payment in advance of a decision from a Hague tribunal that was expected to favor Iran.

The payment that drew the most scrutiny was the initial $400 million, delivered in cash on the same January day that U.S. prisoners were released by Iran. President Barack Obama and the State Department have been emphatic that the payment was money owed to Iran anyways and did not constitute a ransom payment, although a State Department spokesman later confirmed that the U.S. had “deliberately leveraged” the payment to make sure that the Americans were released.

In his letter to Obama, Lankford asked Obama for specifics about the cash payment, including if Iran had expressed a specific preference for cash and if the U.S. was aware at all of how the Iranian government had spent the money. The Oklahoma senator also asked Obama to “detail all direct or indirect payments the U.S. has made to Iran” since the nuclear deal was reached.

Lankford also asked why the payment was made in cash in the first place, as opposed to a check or wire transfer, a question to which the Obama administration has already provided an answer publicly. In a press conference last month, the president said the $400 million payment to Iran had to be made in cash because U.S. sanctions had been so successful that no banking relationship at all existed between the two nations. A Treasury Department spokesman told the Associated Press that subsequent payments were made in cash for the same reason.

An additional set of questions from Lankford sought details on reports that Iran had been granted secret exemptions to certain requirements of the nuclear agreement so that it could be in compliance by the deadline day for implementation. A State Department spokesman disputed that report when it came out and said Iran’s obligations under the deal have not changed.