The US had a very long running court case with Iran over non-delivery of weapons bought by the Shah. In international law, the US was still on the hook. There w

The US had a very long running court case with Iran over non-delivery of weapons bought by the Shah. In international law, the US was still on the hook. There was a panel of US, Iranian and neutral judges adjudicating it and it looked certain they would eventually find for Iran. The Obama administration made a deal to pay off Iran in order to avoid potentially massive interest payments running since the 1970s. Iran supports the Houthis in Yemen, therefore Obama funded the Houthis. Presumably the weapons Reagan sold to Iran in the Iran Contra scandal are too out of date to be useful to the Houthis.