President Donald Trump said Monday in an Oval Office event that the unfrozen funds being released to Iran will be used exclusively to purchase food through the United States. Iran's central bank governor denied the claim to the Iranian Tasnim news agency, according to Israeli media.
President Donald Trump said Monday evening in an Oval Office event that the unfrozen Iranian funds will be used exclusively to purchase food through the United States — his latest assertion about the restrictions on the money. The statement airs as negotiations continue, and follows a rapid sequence of claims and denials. Within minutes, Iran's central bank governor denied Trump's characterization, according to a report carried by Israeli media citing the Iranian state-affiliated Tasnim news agency.
The Zioneer has reported the evolving dispute across several dispatches Monday evening. At 23:05, Trump first stated that unfrozen Iranian funds would go solely to American agricultural products — a direct counter to Iranian negotiator Mohammad Marandi, who had earlier insisted Iran would not buy US agricultural goods. Minutes later, at 23:05, Trump added that oil revenues would not fund military rebuilding but only food purchases; the official Iranian news agency called that claim a complete lie. By 23:46, Trump told a reporter Iran would not use oil profits to rebuild its military, reiterating that the money would buy food. The new development — the central bank governor's denial of the latest characterization — deepens the pattern: each Trump assertion has been met with an Iranian rebuttal, moving from Marandi's denial of US goods purchases, to the official news agency calling an earlier version a lie, and now to the central bank governor's personal denial.
As The Zioneer reported previously, the dispute over who controls the funds has been a persistent theme in the negotiations. On June 17, Iran's Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati stated that all funds from oil exports under the emerging deal would be held by the central bank and used at its discretion. The same day, Vice President Vance emphasized that no US taxpayer money would go to Iran. On June 18, Trump denied a $300 billion payment to Iran on his social media platform, calling it 'fake news.' The current statements remain at the level of attributed claims; no independent verification of the fund transfer mechanism or the negotiated restrictions is available. It remains unclear what controls, if any, the US has over the funds once transferred.
4 developments
- DevelopingIran’s central bank chief: We are not committed to buying US agricultural goods
- StrongTrump denies US paying Iran $300 billion, calls claim 'fake news'
- DevelopingTrump reportedly set to grant Iran major financial relief within days, per Israeli media
- DevelopingReporter asks Trump if Iran will use oil revenue to rebuild army; Trump responds
Source and signal
- Internal intake