The Obama administration supported the early lifting of United Nations sanctions on two Iranian state banks, Bank Sepah and Bank Sepah International, as part of a series of agreements finalized between the United States and Iran on January 17, the day after the nuclear agreement went into effect.  The two banks, which have been linked to financing for Iran's ballistic missile program, were not initially set to be removed from the U.N. blacklist until 2023.  The package of agreements also included a prisoner exchange and the transfer of $1.7 billion in cash to Iran to settle a failed arms deal from 1979.