Obama denies Iran payment was ransom. Trump describes mysterious video of cash delivery.

President Obama denies he paid ransom to Iran

(Image credit: AP/YouTube)

last updated 5 August 2016

At a press conference at the Pentagon on Thursday, President Obama called Donald Trump's warnings of a "rigged" election "ridiculous" — "What does that mean?" he asked. "I've never heard anybody complain about being cheated before the game is over" — said that the Islamic State is losing but will still be able to create "the kinds of fear and concern that elevates their profile," and dismissed claims by Trump and other Republicans that a $400 million cash payment to Iran in January was ransom for four U.S. prisoners freed at the time time.

"We do not pay ransom for hostages," Obama said, asserting that the money was the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement of outstanding, potentially much more expensive claims by Iran, and noting that his administration disclosed the deal in January and the media reported on it. "It wasn't a secret. We were completely open about it," Obama said. "The only bit of news is that we paid cash," he added, explaining that "we couldn't wire the money" because "we don't have a banking relationship with Iran, which is part of the pressure we applied on them."

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The thing about the video, notes the New York Daily News, is that "no one — including American intelligence officials — has any idea what he was talking about." When Trump first described the video of the "top secret" cash delivery at a rally Wednesday in Daytona Beach, his campaign told CBS News that Trump was actually referring to footage of the freed Americans walking off a plane in Geneva that has been played repeatedly on Fox News, and when The Washington Post sent that footage to Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks, she said that "yes," that's what Trump was talking about, "merely the b-roll footage included in every broadcast."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.