Trump Again Insists US 'Soon' To Buy Farm Goods With Unfrozen Iranian Funds
President Donald Trump continued to insist that the US would "soon" buy wheat, soybeans, and corn from American farmers using Iranian assets that have been frozen for years under US sanctions.
Trump said Iran is facing food shortages and that the US would use "some of Iran's money" to buy the farm goods for the country from American farmers.
"We have a new market coming up, and that's called the lovely country of Iran," he said in comments at the White House on June 25.
"It's a beautiful place -- would anybody like to go there? The Islamic republic of Iran."
"They're having a hard time with food, and we're going to be taking some of their money, and we'll spend it, and we're going to be buying wheat, soybeans, and corn, a lot of it, and that process is going to be starting soon. It's going to be pretty big," he added.
Tehran earlier pushed back against similar US claims that any unfrozen assets released under a framework deal would be used to buy US agricultural products, although it stopped short of ruling it out, as the proposal sparked a sharp backlash from the Iran’s hard-liners.
The release of billions in Iranian funds held abroad is part of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Tehran and Washington on June 17 that aims to end months of war between the foes.
Trump on June 23 said any unlocked Iranian funds would be used to purchase American corn, soybeans, and wheat. The money, he said, would be held "in escrow, controlled by" Washington and spent "exclusively" on American food and medical supplies.
Iranian Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati swiftly denied there was such an obligation. "Based on the signed memorandum, we have no requirement to purchase agricultural inputs from America," he said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran would decide how to use any released assets "in whatever way is in the country's interest."
"Therefore, there are no restrictions in this regard," he said.
In a news conference in Switzerland last week, US Vice President JD Vance said the administration is looking to use unfrozen Iranian funds to buy US agricultural products.
Bloomberg News quoted StoneX chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman as saying: “I remain skeptical of Iranian purchases of US ag commodities, but the possibility must be respected. That may end up being an area that Iran gives on in order to get what it wants in another area of the talks.”
US sold large volumes of corn, wheat, and rice prior to Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Since then, however, Iran has established agricultural trade flows with other countries.
With reporting by Bloomberg News and Reuters
Iranians Struggle For Their Daily Bread
Soaring costs and supply shortages exacerbated by the war with the United States and Israel have left much of Iran's infrastructure and industries in tatters, fueling runaway inflation and joblessness.
Bread has historically been among the few staples kept affordable through government subsidies, with the state supplying flour to bakeries at low prices.
But bread prices have doubled from a year ago in places such as Tehran, leaving many struggling to put the staple on their dining tables.
"Things are very bad," one woman in the capital told RFE/RL, "and we're actually better off than a lot of people."
Read the full report here.
UN Maritime Agency Pauses Hormuz Evacuation After Ship Attack
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has temporarily suspended an operation to evacuate thousands of seafarers from the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Oman, the UN agency said on June 25.
IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez said he had decided to pause the operation "to reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place for the ships on our evacuation list and all those in the region."
The decision followed an attack earlier on June 25 on a vessel that had transited the Strait of Hormuz. "This vessel did not transit under IMO's evacuation framework," Dominguez said.
The IMO did not identify the vessel or provide details of the attack. The UKMTO shipping security monitor had previously reported a cargo vessel being struck on June 25 by an “unknown projectile” 7.5 nautical miles southeast of Dahit, Oman.
The IMO announced on June 23 that it would evacuate more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the strait after weeks of disruption caused by attacks on commercial shipping in the region amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran.
Although shipping traffic has begun to recover following a framework US-Iran agreement, uncertainty remains over reported Iranian naval mines in the waterway.
With reporting by dpa
Cargo Vessel Hit By Projectile Off Oman, Says Shipping Monitor
A cargo vessel was struck by an “unknown projectile” 7.5 nautical miles southeast of Dahit, Oman, on June 25, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which monitors shipping security in the region.
UKMTO said the vessel was hit on its starboard side, causing damage to the bridge. The captain reported no casualties and no environmental impact.
The incident comes as the United States and Iran remain at odds over navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Under a June 17 framework agreement, Iran pledged to make its "best efforts" to ensure toll-free passage for 60 days, but Iranian officials have since said they intend to charge "service fees" for vessels using the waterway.
UKMTO advised vessels to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity.
US And Gulf States Back Iran Nuclear Talks But Warn Sanctions Relief Is 'Reversible'
MANAMA -- The United States and Persian Gulf Arab states have backed ongoing diplomacy with Iran but warned that any economic benefits from a recent framework agreement, which paves the way for negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, could be quickly withdrawn if Tehran fails to meet its commitments or continues activities they view as destabilizing.
The warning came in a joint statement issued on June 25 after a ministerial meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Bahrain.
The statement welcomed the June 17 memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran as an important step toward reducing regional tensions and praised mediation efforts by Qatar and Pakistan.
But the ministers stressed that any lasting agreement must prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and address what they called the "full spectrum" of Iranian threats, including its ballistic missile and drone programs, as well as support for armed groups across the Middle East.
They said future trade and investment with Iran would be "conditional and reversible," depending on Tehran's compliance with the memorandum and any final agreement reached in ongoing negotiations.
The ministers also called for unrestricted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting any attempt to impose tolls or fees on shipping in the waterway.
Beyond Iran, the statement reaffirmed support for reconstruction in Syria, Lebanon's sovereignty and efforts to disarm non-state armed groups, and US-led efforts to end the war in Gaza while opposing the forced displacement of Palestinians.
It also condemned attacks by Iran-aligned groups in Iraq against Gulf states.
Iran Denies Unfrozen Funds Will Be Used To Purchase US Crops
Iran's parliament speaker and top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, has dismissed claims that Tehran will use its unfrozen assets to buy US agricultural products, calling them false.
"The US only exports GMO soybeans, broken promises and trash talks," Qalibaf said in an X post on June 25, a day after US President Donald Trump said that released Iranian assets will be "totally controlled" by the United States.
"We will be releasing some of their money, that is totally controlled by us, to our Farmers and Ranchers, for the purchase of Corn, Wheat, Soybeans, and more," Trump said in a Truth Social post on June 24.
He added that Iran "desperately needed" food and insisted that "we will be purchasing it for them exclusively from the United States," following a deal with Washington.
The release of billions in Iranian funds held abroad is part of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Tehran and Washington on June 17 that aims to end months of war between the countries.
The prospect of purchasing US agricultural products using unfrozen funds has not gone down well with hard-liners in Iran, who say Iran is "gifting" billions to that United States and making its food security dependent on US farmers.
Rubio Seeks To Reassure US Gulf Allies At Talks In Bahrain
MANAMA -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been bringing US allies in the Persian Gulf up to speed on the framework agreement with Iran and related issues at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Bahrain.
Rubio acknowledged that GCC nations had concerns about the US-Iran deal, which set up a 60-day period for further talks with Tehran.
“It's important to point to a couple of things that are a priority to us. For while we want a deal, we don't want a deal at any price. We want a deal that's good,” he said. “We want to ensure that (in) any decisions that are made throughout this negotiating process, the interest of our partners and our allies in the region are always taken into account.”
The GCC consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The meeting follows a tour Rubio has taken through the region.
Media reports have suggested GCC countries have reservations about the deal.
All of them were targeted by Iranian missiles following the US and Israeli air strikes that began the war on February 28.
At the meeting in Bahrain, Rubio again emphasized that indications by Iran that it would seek to impose tolls or fees for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz were unacceptable.
“You can call it a toll. You can call it a fee, whatever you want to call it, it's a game of semantics. The reality of it is that no country on Earth has a right to charge for the use of international waterways, and that will never be an acceptable condition of any deal,” he said.
Oil Prices Fall To Pre-War Levels For First Time
The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark oil, has fallen to below the level it was at before US and Israeli air strikes started the war with Iran on February 28.
The decline comes as increasing numbers of ships have been clearing the Strait of Hormuz, the key global artery for some 20 percent of global oil supplies prior to the war.
At one point, Brent was trading at $72.24 a barrel on June 25. According to the Trading Economics web monitor, it reached $73.48 on February 27.
Oil prices have been coming down all week as traffic increased in the strait, following the US-Iran framework agreement to end their conflict.
Shipping levels still have a long way to go before they reach pre-war levels and have also been boosted by an International Maritime Organization (IMO) operation to evacuate ships stranded when Iran closed the strait in early March.
IMO figures on June 25 showed 13 vessels passed the strait on June 23, followed by 32 the next day, and 12 vessels by midday local time on June 25. These were just vessels exiting the strait as part of the IMO operation.
Global oil supply has been further boosted by the US waiver on sanctions applying to Iranian oil, bringing extra barrels to market that were previously not legally available -- although Chinese refineries did buy large amounts of oil transported by Iranian shadow fleet vessels.
Kpler, a commodities intelligence company, noted 70 crossings in both directions on June 24, the highest figure since March 1. The same day, maritime intelligence company Windward noted a 48 percent increase in traffic through the strait.
Veterans Of Iran Talks Say Verification Will Be ‘Heavy Slog’ With Details Of Access Key To Success
Amid an ongoing row between Washington and Tehran over whether international monitors can verify Iranian compliance with its nuclear nonproliferation commitments, former officials have told RFE/RL that the scale, scope, and degree of access are crucial to the success of inspections.
Details on those have yet to be determined, though Raffael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the UN body "will be working on the modalities -- dates, procedures, places -- very soon."
That doesn't mean, according to experts, that the organization hasn't already drawn up a wish list for any eventual inspections.
"They almost certainly have a plan for when they go back in, what the priorities are, where they would want to go first, second, third," Laura Rockwood, a former IAEA negotiator on Iran, told RFE/RL.
To read the full report, click here.
Iran Agreed To Downblend Its Uranium. But How Do You 'Dilute' A Radioactive Metal?
In the 1990s, US and Russian scientists pulled off the ultimate nuclear magic trick: "downblending" weapons-grade uranium so it could never be used in a bomb.
Now, the US and Iran are trying to repeat history.
Under the new 60-day peace roadmap, Iran has agreed to downblend its current stockpile.
But how exactly do you "dilute" a radioactive metal? It’s not as simple as adding water.
