US Republican questions timing of $1.7 bln Iran payment, hostage release
WASHINGTON - A powerful US lawmaker on Wednesday demanded Secretary of State John Kerry provide an explanation of a $1.7 billion claim settlement paid to Iran just as Tehran released American prisoners last month.
Republican Ed Royce, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote that the timing of the settlement and the administration's failure to brief Congress "has led some to express concern that the payment represents a de facto 'ransom' for the release of American hostages."
Royce asked Kerry to provide by Feb. 17 information including lists of all US officials who participated in negotiations with Iran over the settlement agreement, the prisoner release and the nuclear agreement announced in July.
He also asked for legal analyses of the dispute, a timeline of negotiations over the dispute and an explanation of how the interest payment in the settlement was calculated, among other information.
