Ernst Statement on U.S. Payment of $400 Million to Iran Contingent upon Americans’ Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Associated Press today reported that the “State Dept. says $400 million cash payment to Iran was contingent on American prisoners' release.” U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), a combat veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement following the news:

“The confirmation from the State Department today that $400 million to Iran was contingent on the release of American prisoners sends a dangerous message throughout the world. The Obama Administration has continued to prove it will appease our adversaries and fill the pockets of a regime responsible for the deaths of American soldiers on the battlefield in Iraq, and a government that calls for the destruction of our closest ally, Israel.

“The most alarming impact of this $400 million is not the possibility that Iran may use it to build more improvised explosives to kill American troops, or continue their pursuit of a nuclear weapon, it is the impact it has on Americans around the world whose enemies now know the price they’re worth to this Administration if held captive.

“As I have stressed before, the bottom line is that Iran cannot be trusted, which is why we should not have made the misguided deal that sets them on a path toward acquiring nuclear weapons and puts Americans and our allies at risk.”