The Obama administration is coming under tough new criticism for its dealings with Tehran after a Wall Street Journal report claimed the U.S. agreed to sign a “secret document” lifting international sanctions on Iranian banks just as the regime was releasing four American prisoners.
House Speaker Paul Ryan on
Friday called on Obama to provide “an immediate explanation.”
According to the Journal, the Obama administration agreed to support removing United Nations sanctions on the banks well in advance of the 2023 date agreed upon in the nuclear deal. The early removal of sanctions on Bank Sepah and Bank Sepah International reportedly was part of a broader list of “tightly scripted agreements,” including the controversial prisoner exchange and transfer of $1.7 billion in cash to Iran that Republicans characterize as a “ransom.”
Ryan said the move violated the nuclear deal.
“This story grows more disturbing with each passing day," Ryan, R-Wis., said in his statement. “It now appears that on the same day American hostages were freed from Iran, the administration not only agreed to the $1.7 billion cash ransom payment, but violated a key term of the nuclear deal by prematurely lifting ballistic missile sanctions.”
