Trump Blames Obama as U.S. Launches ‘Defensive Strikes’ Against Iran

Obama officials maintained the payment stemmed from a decades-old legal settlement involving Iranian funds frozen after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

However, critics argued the timing effectively amounted to ransom payments that incentivized hostage-taking by the Iranian regime.

Congressional Republicans blasted the move at the time, saying the administration empowered a state sponsor of terrorism while publicly insisting the payments were unrelated to the prisoner release.