Conflict in the Middle East has led to a wave of misinformation spreading on social media. Since the United States participated in attacks against Iran along with Israel, American citizens have also been subject to many false accusations, particularly about how the administration has acted against Iran before. Donald Trump Dealing with Iran.
One particularly accelerated pace involves government payments Joe Biden Barack Obama is released to Iran. While these payments were indeed made, totaling $17.6 million, the context in which they were made is important.
Since the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran on Saturday, February 28, Trump and federal government officials have reiterated many of the claims about the payments, claiming they were used by Iran to fund its nuclear program.
However, there is no conclusive evidence that Iran has used the funds for its nuclear program. As of now, Iran claims that its nuclear power facilities are purely for civilian purposes.
Here, we’ll look at the background of the payment, when it was made, why it was made, and how it went.
Obama pays $1.7 billion in cash
In 2016, Barack Obama transferred $1.7 billion in cash to Iran as part of a settlement of a failed arms deal dating back to 1979. The first $400 million was flown in on January 17, 2016, coinciding with the release of American prisoners. The remaining $1.3 billion is the estimated interest accumulated on Iranian cash held by Iran since the 1970s.
Initially, the Obama administration did not clarify whether the payments and the release of the hostages were connected, trying to show that the two were separate. But they later admitted that the cash was used as leverage to secure the safe departure of American hostages from Iran.
Also read: Where is Benjamin Netanyahu now? Debunking the ‘assassination’ and ‘escape to Germany’ claims
Biden pays $16 billion to Iran
The Biden administration approved the waiver, allowing Iran to receive about $10 billion from hosting Iraqi electricity bills. The mandate has been extended several times since the United States supported Iraq in its war with Iran. It also unfrozen $6 billion in accounts held by Qatar related to the hostage trade, but officials said the funds remained disbursed and were restricted to humanitarian purposes.
The Biden administration has provided a total of $16 billion to Iran.
As a result, the Biden and Obama administrations have provided a total of $17.7 billion to Iran.
