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Iran ransom pay broke U.S. law

Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American correspondent for the Washington Post, beams as he attends a presidential campaign of President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran in 2013. Rezaian was arrested along with his wife when security forces raided their home on July 22, 2014. Before his release, he had been held for over 500 days, longer than 52 Americans were held during the 1979-81 Iran hostage crisis and by far the lengthiest detention of a Western journalist by Tehran. Officials did not tie the release directly to the nuclear talks and said they had not wanted the detained Americans to be “used as leverage.”
Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American correspondent for the Washington Post, beams as he attends a presidential campaign of President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran in 2013. Rezaian was arrested along with his wife when security forces raided their home on July 22, 2014. Before his release, he had been held for over 500 days, longer than 52 Americans were held during the 1979-81 Iran hostage crisis and by far the lengthiest detention of a Western journalist by Tehran. Officials did not tie the release directly to the nuclear talks and said they had not wanted the detained Americans to be “used as leverage.” Vahid Salemi AP

Ransom? Secrecy? Zika?

Iran is the “foremost sponsor of terrorism,” per the Feb. 9, 2016 “Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community” report by DNI Clapper. It is against U.S. law to send U.S. cash to a terrorist country.

Well, we now know that the Obama administration did this, secretly, in January after Iran released four Americans. U.S. money was laundered via Swiss Francs and Euros. If you or I did this, we’d be behind bars.

Ransom? This administration says not. However “If it looks like a duck … it’s a duck.” They say: “Trust us.” Sure, like “You can keep your health plan and doctor,” the lie of the year in 2013. Secrecy? Remember Obama’s “No more secrecy, that’s a commitment I make to you as president.”

Since cash is fungible, this gives Iran millions of dollars for more terrorism, weapon and missile development, uranium enrichment, funding for Hezbollah and proxy groups, and military and economic aid to its allies. It facilitates Iran to purchase 5,000 advanced centrifuges for enrichment, which eliminates a safeguard against nuclear weapon development. Since this cash shipment, Iran has arrested two more Americans and detained dual-nationals from France, Canada and the U.K. Ransom begets more ransom.

Moreover, how about Zika? The administration found $400 million for terrorist Iran; why is it holding back from programming funds to fight Zika? It would not even require an infamous Obama Executive Order; they could simply reprogram funds. We all know that there is much waste in government funding ... consider the artwork purchased by the VA.

Floridians, please contact your federal representatives and urge them to put a fire under Obama to make funds available! No games.

Our health is at stake!

Roger Grossel

Lakewood Ranch

This story was originally published August 9, 2016 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Iran ransom pay broke U.S. law."

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