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(DC Pundit) – Nothing says “fresh ideas” like dragging out a stale, old former president to lecture the current one. On Saturday, Barack Obama hit the stump in Ohio to rally Democrats, and he spent part of the time taking a victory lap over his Iran policy.
“And I didn’t have to fire a missile to do it. I just had to engage in diplomacy,” Obama said.
He has a lot of nerve poking at President Trump at all. Republicans have rightfully accused Obama-era officials for years of working to undermine Trump’s first term through the Russia investigation.
OBAMA: Iran didn't have nuclear weapons because I had put a deal in place and I didn't have to fire a missile to do it. I just had to engage in diplomacy. pic.twitter.com/gpbVnmNIpi
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 24, 2026
Nice line. It just leaves out most of the story.
In January 2016, the Obama administration quietly flew $400 million in cash to Tehran on wooden pallets, stacked with Swiss francs, euros and other currencies. It landed the same day Iran released four Americans it had been holding. The White House insisted the two events were unrelated, then later acknowledged the cash was held as leverage until the Americans were allowed to leave. That payment was the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement, and the $1.3 billion in interest was also paid in cash. Obama’s team said it was settling an old claim from a failed arms deal under the Shah. Republicans never bought it. Sen. Marco Rubio called it an “illicit ransom payment,” and then-House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce complained it was all “done in secret, hidden from the American people and from Congress.”
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been blunt about the deal’s results. He told The Atlantic in 2018 that Iran took $150 billion after the deal, and he asked critics to name one housing project the regime built with it.
Saudi Prince MbS reveals that President Obama gave Iran $150B, and the IRGC didn’t even build a single street with that money.
Instead, they used the money to make missiles and drones. And on top of that, they also used the funds Obama provided them to finance and arm… pic.twitter.com/1JTL1ExXml
— DKelly 🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 (@1Nicdar) April 3, 2026
So where did it go? Conservatives argue that sanctions relief and cash helped Iran fund its proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, who go by Ansar Allah. Iran has also long been accused of sheltering senior Al Qaeda figures. That’s quite a return on a “diplomacy” investment.
Obama’s approach to the region brought chaos and left a trail of destruction, with allies like Israel left to deal with the fallout. To them, not firing a missile is not the same as keeping the peace.
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