$400 Million U.S. Gave Iran Could Go to Fund Terrorism

White house spokesman Josh Earnest recently acknowledged that part of the $400 million the U.S. gave to Iran as part of the Iran Nuclear Deal could have gone to fund terrorism.

The Washington Free Beacon reports that in a press conference on Wednesday Earnest stressed that the majority of the funds the U.S. gifted to Iran for the release of American prisoners went to help Iran’s ailing economy.

When pressed by a journalist, however, Earnest acknowledged that it is possible a portion of the funds could go to Iran’s support of terrorism.

“The president was quite forward-leaning in advance of the nuclear deal even being completed in acknowledging that we know that Iran supports terrorism,” Earnest said. “We know that Iran supports Hezbollah and the Assad regime, and it is certainly possible that some of the money that Iran has is being used for those purposes, too.”

Earnest went on to say that this is why the Obama administration has been working closely with Middle Eastern countries in an attempt to prevent the money from being used to fund terrorism.

Earnest also slammed critics of the deal, stating that the $400 million was not a form of sanctions relief as some critics claimed. Instead, Earnest said, the money was from a bank account Iran had been paying into and had been fighting to get back for years.

The $400 million was airlifted to Iran and was given to the country in euros and Swiss francs, as well as other currencies. The U.S. does not allow dollar transactions with Iran.

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: August 4, 2016