Report: U.S. Waited for Iran to Release Prisoners Before Handing Over Cash

The U.S. timed a payment of $400 million to Iran to coincide with the country’s release of American prisoners in January, according to a report.

The Wall Street Journal reports, citing anonymous sources, that the U.S. would not give Iranian officials control of the money until American prisoners had departed Tehran en route to Geneva.

The U.S. payment to Iran, which was reported when it happened in January, has made headlines in recent weeks after U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and others claimed that the money amounted to ransom. The government says the payment settled a long-standing debt the U.S. owed to Iran before the current regime came to power.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal.