President Donald Trump said Wednesday that some of the unfrozen Iranian funds will be released to buy corn, wheat, soybeans, and other produce from the United States, arguing that Iran is "desperately" in need of food. The statement echoes his previous remarks on the terms of financial relief for Tehran.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday further specified the terms of the unfrozen Iranian funds, saying the money will be used exclusively to purchase US corn, wheat, and soybeans. The statement comes after a day of escalating detail: earlier on Tuesday, Trump had said the funds would be used for US food purchases including corn and soybeans, and earlier still that the funds would be held in a US-controlled escrow account for food and medical equipment. The new remarks, circulating via Israeli media, are the first to name the specific commodities, though no official White House readout has been released.
As The Zioneer reported on Tuesday evening, Trump had previously tied the relief to US food purchases, with the thread beginning Tuesday afternoon when he announced that Iran had agreed to full nuclear inspections and that sanctions relief would be placed in escrow. By late Tuesday evening, Trump had elaborated that the purchases would be of corn and soybeans. Today's addition of wheat marks a further narrowing of the terms. The thread has relied on Trump's own statements, relayed through Israeli media, without independent confirmation from the White House or the US Treasury.
Background reporting from The Zioneer, published earlier this week, has charted a series of Trump declarations on Iranian economic vulnerability and the terms of financial relief, including a Monday article where Trump countered an Iranian negotiator's claim that Tehran would refuse US goods, and a June 17 initial report that Trump was expected to grant major financial relief within days. The broader context includes Trump's repeated public detailing of Iran's hunger, food, and medicine shortages, as well as a June 11 statement about US forces seizing Iranian territory — all part of a rapidly evolving public narrative.
The specifics of the escrow mechanism and the scope of the relief remain unverified by official sources. Iran's leadership has previously rejected claims that the terms are as Trump describes them, and no Iranian confirmation has been reported.
4 developments
- StrongTrump says Iran will grant IAEA access to bombed nuclear sites, use frozen funds for US food
- DevelopingTrump reportedly set to grant Iran major financial relief within days, per Israeli media
- StrongTrump: Iran assured US it won't levy tolls in Strait of Hormuz; no funds released
- DevelopingTrump lists Iran's economic woes: 'They have a hunger problem, a food problem, a medicine problem'
Source and signal
- Internal intake