Iran told US no tolls for Hormuz transit: Trump

claim counterclaim | Unfrozen assets will go towards buying US food, medicine for Iran, says treasury secretary

Washington: President Donald Trump said ⁠Iran told the US no tolls were being sought from ships travelling through ⁠the Strait of Hormuz. “If ⁠this is false inform­ation ⁠negotiations wo­uld ⁠end immediate­ly,” ⁠Trump wrote on  Truth Social.

“No tolls, no insurance costs and no other charges of any kind being sought or received by Iran on ships travelling the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

Trump added: “Additiona­lly, no money has been given to Iran, or released from their money to them, by the US. 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.” 

RECYCLING FUNDS

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has insisted a large portion of unfrozen Iranian assets would go towards purchasing US food and medicine, despite claims from Iranian officials they have made no such commitment.

“Any money the Iranians get is going to be used, first, for the benefit of the Iranian people,” Bessent told CNBC.

He said the US treasury would directly oversee how the funds, likely to be distributed through Qatar, were allocated. “A very large percentage of it will go to buy US foodstuffs and medicine,” said the US treasury secretary. “So we would be recycling the money back into US products.”

ISSUES REMAIN

The framework itself imposes no limits on Iran’s nuclear programme, a subject to be tackled in 60 days of negotiations. Trump claimed Iran had agreed to allow international inspectors indefinite access to its damaged nuclear sites. “Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level nuclear inspections long into the future (infinity!),” Trump said on social media.

Iran denied it had discussed its nuclear programme at the talks and said it had not agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back to the country.

ON COLLISION COURSE

Criticising Washington’s han­dling of negotiations with Tehran, a minister said the US would soon find itself “on a collision course” with Israel over its agreement with Iran.

“The conduct of the US at this moment regarding the Iranian issue is not good. They do not internalize who they are dealing with,” Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar told Israeli news site Ynet. “The US will find itself on a collision course with Israel in the near future, and our response to the US will not be automatic. Our security interest will dictate the military move.”

IRAN LIKE GAZA?

In Pakistan, President Maso­ud Pezeshkian said, “If the missiles we have for our defe­nce did not exist, Israel and the US would have ploughed through Iran just like Gaza, showing no mercy to either the old or the young.”

—Agencies

Ghalibaf: Deal to end war a declaration of US defeat 

The deal between Iran and the US to end their war is “America’s declaration of defeat,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of the Iranian negotiating team, said on Wednesday. At a conference in Azerbaijan, Ghalibaf said regional countries alone should determine West Asia’s political and security order, rejecting external involvement and calling for expanded intra-regional cooperation.  “The Islamabad understanding was not the result of pressure and coercion, but rather the result of the resistance and authority of the brave Iranian nation,” Ghalibaf said. “That is why the Islamabad MoU became a declaration of America’s defeat.”