2 days after cash delivery, US paid $1.3 billion to Iran

WASHINGTON – The U.S. says it paid $1.3 billion to Iran in January from a little-known fund for resolving international disputes, two days after allowing a planeload of cash to fly to Tehran.

State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau says the U.S. can’t say more about the Jan. 19 payments because of diplomatic sensitivities. They involved 13 separate payments of $99,999,999.99 and a final payment of about $10 million.

The money settles a 1970s payment by Iran for U.S. military equipment that was never delivered upon because of the 1979 revolution.

On Jan. 17, the administration paid the account’s $400 million principal in pallets of cash.

The deal has faced scrutiny since the administration acknowledged using the money as leverage to ensure the release of four American prisoners. Republicans call it “ransom.”