Chairman Donald Trump and deputy chairman JD Vance have offered conflicting accounts of the Iran deal’s financial terms. Their discordant statements have raised questions about a possible $300 billion fund for Tehran. The former has accused the Democrats of spreading fake news about the same.
JD Vance and Donald Trump are at odds over Iran deal spending
At the center of the confusion is whether the US-Iran deal, which paused the war for more than three months, includes a path to unlock massive reconstruction funding for Iran, contingent on its compliance with the deal’s terms.
The disagreement became public on Monday when Donald Trump celebrated the deal’s nuclear provisions while denying any financial payment to Iran. Writing on Truth Social, he wrote: “Iran has agreed to never have a nuclear weapon! Also, the story about the US paying Iran $300 million is fake news, published by Dumocrats!!!”
Trump’s denial puzzled observers since no report had mentioned $300 million. The coverage had focused instead on a proposed $300 billion investment and reconstruction package, a figure far larger than the one the president rejected.
That reporting took off because it mirrored comments JD Vance made several hours earlier CBS News. Asked directly about such a fund, Vance said: “When people say that billions of dollars of assets will be released, that’s not true. What is true is that Iran will have a much better and much more prosperous future if they fulfill the obligations they are making in this deal.”
The VP also urged caution against overestimating the gains of either side, saying: “What we have said is that we are willing to talk about divesting assets, but a much, much bigger deal is that their finances are not sanctioned – as long as they make the long-term commitments regarding the nuclear program.”
Reports suggest that US negotiators were discussing an investment vehicle of about $300 billion as part of a broader solution to end the Iran war. A US official told the Financial Times that Washington had explored “the possibility of sanctions and a large fund of $300 billion to rebuild their country.”
Most of the memorandum remains undisclosed, though officials say a fuller explanation will follow soon.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
