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Source: http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-seeking-many-billions-dollars-ransom-free-u-s-hostages/
Iran Seeking "Many Billions of Dollars" in Ransom to Free U.S. Hostages
(Washington Free Beacon) Adam Kredo - Iran is seeking billions of dollars in payments from the U.S. in exchange for the release of several U.S. hostages still being detained in Iran, according to reports by Iran's state-controlled press. Since the White House agreed to pay Tehran $1.7 billion in cash earlier this year as part of a deal bound up in the release of American hostages, Iran has captured several more U.S. citizens. "We should wait and see, the U.S. will offer...many billions of dollars to release" American businessman Siamak Namazi and his father Baquer, who were abducted by Iran, Mashregh News, which has close ties to the Revolutionary Guards, reported Tuesday. "Iranian officials including Foreign Minister Zarif have been bragging for months that they're going to force the U.S. to pay them several billion dollars more," said a senior congressional adviser familiar with the issue. "Iran senses weakness in the U.S. leadership as it constantly tests the administration through a chain of provocative actions," said Saeed Ghasseminejad, an associate fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.