On January 17, evidently in exchange for a large and secretive cash payment from Washington, Iran freed three American hostages. But only two days earlier, Shiite militiamen captured three U.S. contractors in Baghdad and subjected them to a month of horrific torture before releasing them. Max Boot, commenting on recently published interviews with the captives, notes that the two incidents were connected:
The Popular Mobilization Forces, the Shiite militia group of which these kidnappers were a part, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Iranian Quds Force. It is doubtful that the kidnappers could have held three Americans for a month without at least a tacit okay from the Iranian government—and probably would not have released them, either, without an okay from Tehran.
But we know nothing about why the men were held or why they were released. . . . Was a deal struck between Washington and Tehran or between Washington and Baghdad? It did not necessarily have to be a monetary deal—there could have been a quid pro quo of some kind. We simply don’t know. If Congress is going to probe the $400-million payment to Tehran, it should probe the contractors’ kidnapping as well, along with the more recent seizure of further dual-national Iranians to replace the ones that have been released.
Read more on Commentary: https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/iran/was-there-another-iran-ransom-deal/