U.S. President Donald Trump stated today that funds released to Iran by the U.S. Treasury will be deposited into an account controlled by Washington and used exclusively to purchase food and medical supplies from the United States.
“The money and/or sanctions relief being released by the U.S. Treasury will be deposited into a U.S.-controlled escrow account and will be used exclusively for the purchase of food and medical supplies, coming solely from the United States, including corn, wheat, and soybeans from our great American farmers,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) recently signed between Washington and Tehran includes lifting certain sanctions and unfreezing frozen Iranian assets. The Republican leader added that these are goods Tehran “desperately needs.” He continued, “We are facing a humanitarian crisis, and I believe it is necessary to help now before it is too late,” adding that negotiations are “going well.”
However, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, asserted that Iran alone will decide how its unfrozen foreign assets are used, pushing back against Trump’s comments.
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“No entity or other party [in the negotiations] will have any say over how they will be used,” Bahreini stated. While the preliminary text mentions the eventual lifting of “all types of sanctions” if negotiations succeed, Washington has consistently hinted at a verification mechanism to ensure funds do not finance terrorism, indicating that releasing those assets remains conditional.
The initial agreement framework also includes a U.S. commitment, alongside regional partners, to develop a mutually agreed-upon plan worth at least $300 billion intended for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In the same social media post, Trump claimed that Iran had fully agreed to submit to nuclear inspections for an infinite period, contradicting Tehran’s public statements, which he dismissed as part of an “unrelenting fake news campaign” designed to downplay “a major U.S. victory.”
Trump wrote, “Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest-level nuclear inspections for an extended period into the future (infinite). This will ensure nuclear honesty. If they hadn’t agreed to this, there would be no more negotiations!”
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Hours earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghei had denied reports regarding an upcoming visit by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.
The 80-year-old Republican leader noted that thanks to these and other “major concessions” made by Iran, he agreed to “allow the Strait of Hormuz to remain open” without further naval blockades.
“However, all ships remain positioned should it become necessary to re-establish the blockade, which, at this moment, seems highly unlikely,” he added, referencing the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports. In a separate post, Trump noted that 19 million barrels of oil had transited through the strategic strait on Monday alone.
The memorandum of understanding signed last week effectively halted hostilities, reopened the Strait of Hormuz, and established a 60-day window to negotiate a final nuclear agreement and permanent sanctions relief.
