Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on the deal late last week, but Congress was not notified of the decision until Monday, according to the notification, which was obtained by The Associated Press. …

The waiver means that European, Middle Eastern and Asian banks will not run afoul of U.S. sanctions in converting the money frozen in South Korea and transferring it to Qatar´s central bank, where it will be held for Iran to use for the purchase of humanitarian goods.

The transfer of the $6 billion was the critical element in the prisoner release deal, which saw four of the five American detainees transferred from Iranian jails into house arrest last month.

[Terrible deal and terrible timing. News of this deal leaked out a couple of weeks ago, of course. — Ed]