美国承认以暂扣伊朗4亿美元换取其释放人质
The Obama administration said on Thursday it had delayed paying $400m in cash it owed Iran until it was sure that three American prisoners had already left Tehran.
周四，奥巴马政府表示曾延迟支付欠伊朗的4亿美元现金，直到确认三名美国囚犯已离开德黑兰。
In comments immediately seized upon by Republicans, state department spokesman John Kirby said the cash payment had been held back as “leverage” to ensure that the prisoners were actually released.
美国国务院发言人约翰•科比(John Kirby)表示，那笔现金当时被美国暂扣下来当做“筹码”，以确保人质真的被释放。他的话立即遭到了共和党人的抨击。
It was the first time the administration has acknowledged any connection between the $400m transfer, part of a decades-old dispute settlement, and the negotiations over the release of the prisoners.
这是美国政府第一次承认，支付这4亿美元现金，与释放美国人质的谈判之间存在关联。
The three Americans, among a group of five prisoners released by Iran as part of a prisoner exchange, flew out of Iran on January 16 on the same day the US announced the return of the funds to Tehran — a sequence of events that has led Republicans to accuse the administration of paying a ransom.
1月16日，这三名美国囚犯——伊朗按照囚犯交换计划总共释放了5人——飞离了伊朗。就在同一天，美国宣布已把现金运送给伊朗。这两件事相继发生，导致共和党人指责美国国务院缴纳了赎金。
Mr Kirby said the US was worried Iran would renege on the agreement to release the prisoners or find excuses for delays. “We deliberately leveraged that moment to finalise these outstanding issues nearly simultaneously,” he said. “We of course sought to retain maximum leverage until after American citizens were released. That was our top priority.”
科比表示，美国担心伊朗拒不执行释放囚犯的协议，或者找借口推迟释放囚犯。“我们特意利用那一时刻，几乎同时最终敲定了这些悬而未决的问题”，他说。“我们当然寻求握有最大的筹码，直到美国公民被释放。那是我们的头号问题。”
Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, immediately accused President Barack Obama of having “lied” when he denied this month that the payment amounted to a ransom.
共和党总统候选人唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)立即谴责了总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)，称他本月否认这笔钱等于赎金时“说了谎”。
“He denied it was for the hostages, but it was,” Mr Trump said at a rally in North Carolina. “He said we don’t pay ransom, but he did. He lied about the hostages, openly and blatantly — just like he lied about Obamacare.” Mr Trump said the administration had put other Americans overseas at greater risk of being kidnapped.
“他否认这笔钱是用于赎回人质的，但实际就是那么回事，”特朗普在北卡莱罗纳州的一次集会上表示。“他说我们不交赎金，但他确实交了赎金。他在人质问题上撒了谎，公然撒谎，就像他在奥巴马医改问题上所做的那样。”特朗普表示，美国政府已使其他海外美国民众遭绑架的风险增加。
