YOU KEEP USING THAT WORD: U.S. Concedes $400 Million Payment to Iran Was Delayed as Prisoner ‘Leverage’

For months the Obama administration had maintained that the payment was part of a settlement over an old dispute and did not amount to a “ransom” for the release of the Americans. Instead, administration officials said, it was the first installment of the $1.7 billion that the United States intends to pay Iran to reimburse it for military equipment it bought before the Iranian revolution that the United States never delivered.

But at a briefing on Thursday, John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, said the United States “took advantage of the leverage” it felt it had that weekend in mid-January to obtain the release of the hostages and “to make sure they got out safely and efficiently.”

Perhaps on the way to work this morning, your ATM card could provide you with enough leverage to secure breakfast at the drive-thru.