President Donald Trump declined to guarantee that Iran would refrain from using oil revenue to rebuild its military. His cautious response came just hours after his administration authorized the resumption of Iranian oil imports into the United States.
Donald Trump gives two word answer to Iran using oil money for their military
Donald Trump gave the two-word answer while speaking to CNBC at an executive order signing. Trump was asked about whether he could ensure Iran would not use newly accessible oil revenues for military purposes. “Well, they’re not supposed to be doing that, so we’ll see,” Trump said.
The president framed the financial arrangement as a humanitarian necessity. “They’re supposed to use money to buy food for their people, because right now their people are very hungry, and they’re buying it exclusively from us: corn, soybeans,” he explained. Trump emphasized that Iranian funds unfrozen under a memorandum of understanding between the two nations were designated for American agricultural purchases. “Should be a lot of money. I hope it’s a lot of money,” he added.
The funds, Trump stated, are “going to be used to buy food, and the food is going to be bought exclusively through the United States, from our farmers, and corn, soybeans, all of the things they need are going to be bought from our farmers.” He concluded with, “So our farmers are very happy.”
However, Iranian officials pushed back against Trump’s characterization of the deal. Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of Iran’s central bank, told the Tasnim news agency that no binding requirement exists to purchase American goods.
“There is no obligation to buy agricultural inputs from the U.S.,” Hemmati said. He did note that Iran remains open to acquiring American products if they prove superior in price and quality. “We need to buy billions of dollars worth of essential goods and medicine annually, and it does not matter to us from which source we pay for these essential goods,” he stated.
The exchange followed as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued authorization for importing Iranian oil and refined products through at least August.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
