{UAH} WE WOULD NOT LEAVE UNTILL SECOND PLANE LANDED IN IRAN

Hostage: We couldn't leave until second plane landed in Iran

By Joe Tacopino

August 5, 2016 | 1:08am

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Saeed Abedini and Barack ObamaPhoto: Getty Images; AP

One of the American hostages who was released the day the United States sent $400 million to Iran said his plane to freedom was not allowed to take off until "another plane" arrived in Tehran, according to a report.

Pastor Saeed Abedini, who was among four Americans released this past Jan. 17, told Fox Business he wound up waiting for an extended time for the second plane to reach the Iranian capital and was never told why the arriving aircraft was so important.

"I just remember the night at the airport sitting for hours and hours there, and I asked police, 'Why are you not letting us go?' " Abedini said. "He said, 'We are waiting for another plane so if that plane doesn't come, we never let [you] go.' "

It was not clear if the second plane was the unmarked aircraft holding palettes of euros, Swiss francs and other currencies.

The State Department would not clarify whether the hostages were released before or after the cash was delivered.

President Obama, who on Thursday defended his administration amid growing criticism over the deal, denied at a press conference that the payment was a ransom, as many have charged.

"We do not pay ransom. We didn't here, and we won't in the future," Obama said.

Obama denies claims US paid $400M ransom for Iran hostages

"And the notion that we would somehow start now, in this high-profile way . . . defies logic."

Obama insisted that the cash was part of a 35-year-old interest payment that the United States had agreed to fork over as part of a landmark nuclear pact with Iran.

"This wasn't some nefarious deal," Obama told reporters. "It wasn't a secret. We were completely open about it."

Obama claimed the payment was made in cash "because we couldn't send them a check."

He added, "We don't have a banking relationship with Iran, which is part of the pressure we applied on them."

The money was part of a $1.7 billion interest payment that the administration announced publicly when it concluded the nuclear deal.

The disclosure about the timing and method of payment intensified GOP claims that the deal was a handout that would not deter Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said it showed the nuke deal was "nothing but a series of bribes and secret agreements that will do nothing to prevent Iran from reaching nuclear capability."

 

 

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