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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/world/middleeast/iran-us-cash-payment-prisoners.html?_r=0
U.S. Concedes $400 Million Payment to Iran Was Delayed as Prisoner "Leverage"
(New York Times) David E. Sanger - The State Department conceded for the first time on Thursday that it delayed making a $400 million payment to Iran for several hours in January "to retain maximum leverage" and ensure that three American prisoners were released the same day. For months the Obama administration had maintained that the payment was part of a settlement over an old dispute and did not amount to a "ransom" for the release of the Americans. Sooner or later the U.S. would have had to pay Iran back for military equipment Iran bought before the revolution that the U.S. never delivered. But the planeload of cash sent to Iran that day was timed to ensure that the American citizens, aboard a plane leaving Iran, were released first. John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, conceded that while the deals were negotiated separately, the timing of the final transactions was linked.