# So, the hostages in Iran weren't allowed to leave until the plane showed up with the 400mil... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 7, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057 "2016-08-07T17:44:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/21 "2016-08-08T15:17:30Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > I am stunned the Obama Admin gave Iran 400 million in cash. > > What ever phooey they are selling that Iran can not take a check is pretty far fetched to me. Of course I know many will buy it. Obama didn’t give them shit, he refunded their own money. It is factual that there is no banking connection between the two nations. Sorry if facts interfere with your agenda. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/22 "2016-08-08T16:25:56Z")
What’s the big deal about cash? Why does it matter if it was cash vs a transfer? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/23 "2016-08-08T16:36:08Z")
This wasn’t ransom, but it was bad timing from a PR perspective. The Obama administration should have insisted on spacing the two events apart. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/24 "2016-08-08T16:36:51Z")
They should have given them $2 bills and dollar coins as payment. Ha! Try and spend THAT, Iranians! ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/25 "2016-08-08T16:38:30Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > What’s the big deal about cash? Why does it matter if it was cash vs a transfer? Bundles of cash has a shadier, seedy “mob-mafia ransom” or “bank job” connotation to it. Technically the same as a transfer - but, again, bad PR. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/26 "2016-08-08T16:38:55Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > This wasn’t ransom, but it was bad timing from a PR perspective. The Obama administration should have insisted on spacing the two events apart. The Iranians should have waited until the morning of Inauguration Day 2017 like last time. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/27 "2016-08-08T16:41:23Z")
Or we could have sold them weapons, and then used that money to fund terrorists we approved of. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/28 "2016-08-08T16:42:59Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The Iranians should have waited until the morning of Inauguration Day 2017 like last time. > > Regards, > Shodan Unlike Reagan, Hillary was not actively trying to undermine the diplomatic efforts of an incumbent president. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/29 "2016-08-08T16:46:54Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Or we could have sold them weapons, and then used that money to fund terrorists we approved of. We did sell them weapons, and now the Iranians can fund terrorists that _they_ approve of. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/30 "2016-08-08T17:08:08Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > We did sell them weapons, and now the Iranians can fund terrorists that _they_ approve of. > > Regards, > Shodan As long as they’re anti-communist, it’s okay. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/31 "2016-08-08T17:14:39Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > As long as they’re anti-communist, it’s okay. [They aren’t](http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/02/politics/state-department-report-terrorism/). Anti-Israel, yes; anti-communist, no. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/32 "2016-08-08T17:21:41Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Obama didn’t give them shit, he refunded their own money. It is factual that there is no banking connection between the two nations. Sorry if facts interfere with your agenda. I have no agenda here. I highly doubt that the US government with all of its resources and connections to many central banks could not have arranged to get Iran the money in other ways not involving cash. Laughable to think otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/33 "2016-08-08T17:22:46Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > I have no agenda here. I highly doubt that the US government with all of its resources and connections to many central banks could not have arranged to get Iran the money in other ways not involving cash. Laughable to think otherwise. For the sake of argument, let’s say they could. In the words of our next president, what difference does it make? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/34 "2016-08-08T17:31:31Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > I have no agenda here. I highly doubt that the US government with all of its resources and connections to many central banks could not have arranged to get Iran the money in other ways not involving cash. Laughable to think otherwise. Why does it matter if it was cash? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/35 "2016-08-08T18:52:42Z")
I hope the people who are mad about this cash transaction were even more upset about the [$12 Billion in cash](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/08/usa.iraq1) that we shipped to Iraq and distributed. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/36 "2016-08-08T18:52:44Z")
Wasn’t Obama getting flak for not getting the prisoners released as part of the Iran Nuclear deal? It really seems to be a damned if you do damned if you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/37 "2016-08-08T18:57:44Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Why does it matter if it was cash? If they’re paid in cash they can avoid declaring it on their taxes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/38 "2016-08-08T19:17:56Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Wasn’t Obama getting flak for not getting the prisoners released as part of the Iran Nuclear deal? > > It really seems to be a damned if you do damned if you don’t. This is exactly what I was going to post. Who gives a shit what form it was in. The facts are we owed them money. They had people we wanted back, and we wanted a nuclear treaty. We did something for them (pallets of cash), they did something for us (signed treaty, gave us our people). Is this so hard to understand? This is what diplomacy is, people, it isn’t always pretty, but backroom deals like this are how we avoid being in a god damn war all the time. Jeezus Christ, who gives a shit if it was dollars, francs, or pieces of eight? The optics were bad, but smart people can see past how something looks and see the reality, or at least see the grown-ups dealing with the reality. Or you could look at this purely politically and twist this into something nefarious. Yeah, probably you will just do that. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/39 "2016-08-08T19:20:05Z")
Obama could have avoided all this bad publicity by just using PayPal. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057/40 "2016-08-08T20:32:18Z")
No, the Iranians specified small, unmarked bills. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-hostages-in-iran-werent-allowed-to-leave-until-the-plane-showed-up-with-the-400mil/762057.md?page=3)