US officials admit in front of Congress to transfer $ 1.7 billion to Iran

US President Obama

Officials admitted from the State Treasury and the US Justice Ministries before Congress that President Barack Obama's administration followed the transfer of $ 400 million to Iran - has in January - by sending two other deliveries worth 3.1 billion dollars during the 19 days following the process of the first shipment.

The newspaper (Wall Street Journal) American - in a report posted on its website - that these cash payments, which has Swiss franc and the euro and other currencies - settled the dispute lasted for decades about the sale of arms deal did not take place dating back to 1979.

US officials have acknowledged that the payment of the $ 400 million for the first coincided with the establishment of Iran to release American prisoners used to ensure the transfer of Mehrabad Airport the morning of 17 January, and has transferred cargo plane in wooden boxes.

Commenting on the matter, a spokeswoman for the US Treasury Department without Ssilak said that "the transfer of these funds in cash the way, some of which were non-US currency was because of the sanctions that were imposed on Tehran, which have prevented the transfer of funds through banks in recent years because Iran It was completely isolated from the international financial system. "

The newspaper highlighted that some of the US Congress members expressed fears of the possibility of using units of the Iranian army, particularly the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, these funds to support military allies in the Middle East region, including President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and the Houthis in Yemen and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The US newspaper said the settlement resulted from an arbitration judicial been in the Netherlands since the early eighties of the last century between the United States and Iran, an issue dating back to the reign of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who paid $ 400 million for the trust fund belonging to the US Department of Defense, "Pentagon "months before his overthrow where it was intended for the purchase of aircraft parts money, but the delivery process did not take place.

The paper that the disclosure of payment of these funds comes at a time when Congress returns from summer vacation, where Republicans commit to continue the charges to the White House that a ransom was paid to Iran, a charge denied by Obama repeatedly.

The newspaper noted that the Republican Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, presented on Tuesday legislation that would prevent the provision of such payments to Iran in the future and seek to recover the amount of one billion and 700 million dollars, which paid for the Liberation of the victims of the Iranian-backed terrorism.