The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, has dismissed claims that Tehran is using unfrozen assets to purchase American agricultural produce, calling them false.
“The US exports nothing but GMO soya, broken promises and empty talk,” Kalibaf wrote in a post on social media platform X on 25 June, the day after US President Donald Trump stated that the unfrozen Iranian assets would be “fully controlled” by the United States.
“We will pass on a portion of their funds, which are fully controlled by us, to our farmers and livestock breeders to purchase maize, wheat, soya and other products,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on 24 June.
He added that Iran was “desperately in need” of food, and emphasised that “we will purchase it for them exclusively in the United States” in accordance with the agreement.
The release of billions in Iranian funds held abroad is part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Tehran and Washington on 17 June, which is intended to put an end to the months-long conflict between the two countries.
The prospect of purchasing American agricultural produce using the unfrozen funds has not gone down well with hardliners in Iran, who claim that Iran is ‘sacrificing’ billions to the United States and is making its food security dependent on American farmers.
Earlier, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnaser Hemmati, also denied the existence of any such obligation. “According to the signed memorandum, we are not obliged to purchase agricultural produce from the US,” he said.