Obama pays Iran $1.3 billion from the Judgment Fund, sparking a congressional oversight fight

The Obama administration paid Iran $1.3 billion from the Treasury Department Judgment Fund in January 2016 as the interest component of a $1.7 billion settlement resolving a decades-old dispute over military equipment Iran paid for before the 1979 revolution. The State Department labeled the payment a compromise on interest connected to the broader settlement. Republican lawmakers and watchdog groups immediately challenged the payment as an improper use of the fund, triggering congressional hearings and calls for stronger Judgment Fund transparency requirements.