Wall Street:

When the shah of Iran fell in 1979, the U.S. froze at least $400 million of Iranian money sitting in a Pentagon trust fund. The Islamic Republic of Iran never stopped trying to get it back.

Tehran unsuccessfully sought the money from Jimmy Carter in return for 52 American diplomats held hostage for 444 days. It asked the Reagan administration for the same money during dealings that led to the Iran-Contra scandal. The issue came up yet again during negotiations with George H.W. Bush’s White House.

No administration agreed to surrender all the money, until Jan. 17, shortly after four American citizens were released from Iranian jailsin a prisoner exchange. That is when an Iranian government Boeing737 lifted off from Geneva’s Cointrin airport carrying $400 million—stacks of Swiss francs delivered on wooden pallets earlier that day by the U.S. government.

Over the past 18 months, Iran has detained at least three more American citizens for allegedly threatening the country’s national security. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wants the U.S. to return another chunk of Iranian money, $2 billion frozen in 2009 in aCitibank account in New York. He has suggested that a deal similar to the one involving the $400 million could resolve the issue.

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