Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called out former president Barack Obama Thursday, accusing him of helping to finance Iran’s military with “pallets of American cash.”
“Many of the Iranian military factories and bases that we’re systematically destroying were paid for by the pallets of American cash that Barack Obama flew into Tehran under the Iran deal,” Hegseth said.
Critics have long condemned Obama for empowering the state sponsor of terrorism in 2016 with a $1.7 billion cash payout.
Hegseth, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and others, delivered updates on the Iran War at the White House during a cabinet meeting with President Trump, Thursday morning.
The president reiterated his Tuesday remarks that Iran is “begging to make a deal.”
“Just so we set the record straight, because I’ve been watching the Wall Street Journal’s fake news and all these stories that get printed like, oh, I want to make a deal,” Trump remarked. “They are begging to make a deal. Not me. They’re begging to make a deal.”
They start shooting at Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman. They start shooting at them . . . Everybody was shocked, including us. You know why? Because they’re sick. And they had a plan to take over the Middle East.
They are begging to work out a deal. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that. I don’t know if we’re willing to do that. They should have done that four weeks ago. They should have done it two years ago.
Hegseth insisted that Operation Epic Fury is not a “Forever War,” but “a decisive campaign with clear objectives to destroy Iran’s offensive military capabilities and ensure they never obtain a nuclear weapon.”
The secretary called the effort a “pure American success” and said it’s well ahead of schedule.
“Over 10,000 enemy targets destroyed, over 150 naval vessels sunk, underground facilities destroyed, defense industrial base in shambles. Not only do they no longer have a Navy, they no longer have a navy commander,” Hegseth declared.
Many of those targets were funded by the Obama administration, according to Hegseth.
“You might call it an inconvenient truth,” the secretary quipped.
In 2016, the Obama regime secretly airlifted $1.7 billion in cash to Iran, including $400 million delivered on pallets in a single unmarked cargo plane. The payment was alleged to be part of a $1.7 billion settlement resolving a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal from the Shah’s era. The cash was physically flown to Iran because U.S. and international sanctions blocked normal financial transfers.
The $400 million cash transfer occurred on January 17, 2016, the same day Iran released four American prisoners, fueling accusations that it amounted to ransom. Obama officials stated the payment was not a quid pro quo but admitted the timing was used as leverage to ensure the prisoners’ release. The remaining $1.3 billion in cash was delivered in two subsequent shipments on January 22 and February 5, 2016.
“Iran took our money and turned it into weapons and bunkers and ammo, and now we’re destroying those weapons and we’re righting, you’re righting, Mr. President, that grievous wrong,” Hegseth stated during the cabinet meeting. “Make no mistake, we had to act.”
The secretary explained to reporters that Iran has been lying to the world about their missile capabilities.
“They shot two failed missiles on a target 4,000 kilometers away. For years, they told the world that their missiles could only range 2,000 kilometers. Surprise! Yet again, Iran lied,” he said.
Hegseth noted that Iran’s longer range missiles threatened countries well outside the Middle East.
“To the world, I say London is 4,000 kilometers from Iran,” he said, adding, “Washington, D.C. is 3,300 kilometers from Venezuela, another country President Trump did something about that partnered for a long time with Iran.”
Venezuela is transitioning to a democratically elected government following a U.S. military intervention in January that ousted Communist President Nicolás Maduro.
During the cabinet meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that allowing Iran to pursue nuclear weapons would be “an unacceptable risk for the world.”
“What I’m talking about is not the people of Iran. The people that run this country are radical, Shia clerics,” Rubio noted. “These are religious fanatics. Look what they are doing now at their weakest point!”
“This is the weakest Iran has ever been, and look at what they’re doing. They’re attacking embassies. They’re attacking hotels. Imagine what these people would do if they had a nuclear weapon,” he said.
After Steve Witkoff provided an update on US-Iran negotiations, Trump stated that Iran must “permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions” and “chart a new path forward.”
“We’ll see if they want to do it. If they don’t, we’re their worst nightmare,” the president said. “In the meantime, we’ll just keep blowing them away unimpeded.”
Unstopped there’s not a thing they can do about it. They can’t do anything about it. You know, I tell you, if they could, if they could, you’d be hearing about it. You’d be hearing about it. You don’t hear anything about it.
Trump went on to declare that the ongoing conflict is “not even a contest.”
“They can’t shoot our jets. We have the best. We have the best military equipment in the world. No, not even a contest.”
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