Iran negotiator Ghalibaf rejects claim unfrozen funds will buy US goods

The denial contradicts the US administration, which said unfrozen funds will be spent on produce from American farmers.Iran’s parliament speaker, who also heads the country’s negotiating team in talks with the United States, has rejected claims by US President Donald Trump that Tehran’s unfrozen assets would be funnelled exclusively into purchasing American agricultural exports.“America falsely claims our unfrozen assets will buy their agriculture,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on social media platform X on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump White House requests $87.6bn in spending, including for Iran warlist 2 of 3Iran warns against Hormuz crossings without authorisationlist 3 of 3US says Iran will buy its goods: What could Iran-trade" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="152656" data-entity-type="topic">US-Iran trade look like?end of list“The only crop we’re harvesting is what you [the US] planted: decades of mistrust. It’s organic, abundant, and homegrown.”He added that Washington “only exports GMO soybeans, broken promises and trash talk”.The rebukes follow Trump remarking that initial financial relief under the Pakistan-mediated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) would include $500 million in American goods.Trump insisted that no direct cash would reach Tehran, promising the funds would instead be used to buy corn and wheat from US farmers to alleviate what he described as Iran’s “hunger problem”.US Vice President JD Vance said if Iranian assets are unfrozen, “they’re going to go to make American farmers richer and feed the Iranian people”.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking alongside Bahraini leaders in Manama on Thursday, said the US sought a deal that did not compromise security or prosperity for itself or its regional allies.Iranian state and semi-official media have countered the US administration’s narrative, framing the framework agreement as a strategic victory rather than a concession.According to reports from the semi-official Mehr News Agency, Ghalibaf described the memorandum during a diplomatic visit to Baku as a “declaration of US defeat”, asserting that the text does not contain any legal clauses mandating the purchase of US commodities.