Trump accuses Obama of sending $1.7 billion in cash to Iran under nuclear deal

MIAMI, FLORIDA: President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of appeasing Iran by making financial deals related to the nuclear agreement with Tehran while speaking at the FII PRIORITY Summit on Friday, March 27. 

Trump attacked the Iran nuclear agreement signed during his predecessor's tenure and referred to a $1.7 billion transaction with Iran in 2016.

Trump links Obama-era Iran nuclear deal to $1.7 billion settlement

Trump referenced the $1.7 payment made to Iran amid the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal. In his comments, Trump referred to the money as cash sent via airplanes, expressing his discontent with the move, which he said gave the country the opportunity to fund hostile activity.

“That Barack Hussein Obama, did you ever hear of him? Barack Hussein Obama, he had the Iran nuclear deal. He went to Iran, he paid them,” the POTUS said. “Remember, he sent two Boeing 757 jetliners. They took the seats out and they piled it with cash, like 1.7 billion of cash.”

“That's when I realized the president is very powerful. The presidency is a very powerful thing when you can do that. I haven't done that yet. I haven't found a reason to do that yet, but that's big,” the Republican leader expressed. 

The Obama administration said at the time that the funds were owed to Iran following a legal claim related to a failed arms deal prior to the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Trump also reiterated his long-held opposition to the deal, which he withdrew the US from during his first term in office.

Trump boasts about terminating Iran nuclear deal in his first term

Trump said the deal would have allowed Iran to develop nuclear weapons if it had been left in place, but terminating the deal was necessary to prevent this from happening. He also said that Iran was a major threat to the Middle East.

“You know, there wasn't a bank in DC, Virginia, or Maryland that had any money after that disaster," Trump claimed. 

"But they sent the cash to Iran, but more importantly, they signed an agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, which, if I didn't terminate it in my first term, I terminated it almost immediately. If I didn't terminate it, they would have had a nuclear weapon long ago, and they would have used it on the Middle East, Israel," the commander-in-chief further said. 

The president has repeatedly referred to the nuclear deal as one of the biggest issues in the US’ foreign policy, using it to illustrate the ineffectiveness of the country’s diplomacy.

Trump made the comments amid the US' military operation against Iran, which the administration said was necessary to prevent the nation from acquiring nuclear weapons.