Obama gave them free money
When a country is sanctioned by the US, the Treasury adds the country and even individuals (civilians or government employees) to the OFAC (Office of Foreign Asset Control) list. Banks are not allowed to do business with or to facilitate transactions with entities specifically on OFAC or to countries listed. If you were a Iranian national and you had a bank account with a US bank at the time the sanctions were placed on Iran your bank account was completely frozen. The same goes for Iranian corporations or even government accounts.
When Obama signed the nuclear treaty with Iran the sanctions were lifted. Those funds once frozen were now unfrozen, after years. The Iranian delegation requested those unfrozen funds to be transferred immediately in cash, so Obama delivered. Obama didn’t give them free money, he returned what was theirs all along.
One less session for Lewis to kneel in. There’s DTM and GT3 racing this weekend. Next weekend is the Bathurst 1k. I admit I still miss F1 but it’s old F1 I miss. There’s plenty of racing to enjoy outside of that garbage.
I’m sitting comfy over here in the Kunos Simulazioni camp.