Earlier this month, The New York Times noted that Iran and the U.S. had reached a $400 million arms deal with Iran before the shah of Iran was deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. When the new government took Americans hostage in the embassy in Tehran, President Carter froze Iranian accounts, and the Iranians had been trying to get the money back since the hostages were released.

The money never belonged to the U.S. — it has always been Iran’s — and the U.S. would likely have had to pay the $400 million plus 35 years’ worth of interest if the international tribunal at the Hague ruled on the issue, the Times reported.

So we got the prisoners out without spending any money that was actually ours. Not seeing a downside here…but then again, I'm not a wingnut.