Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on June 25 rejected the US statement that Iran's previously frozen and now released assets would be used to buy US agricultural products, Xinhua News Agency reported.
In a post on social network X, Mr. Ghalibaf - one of Iran's key negotiators - wrote: "The US is wrong to assume that our released assets will be used to buy their agricultural products.
Ghalibaf's sharing is similar to previous statements by other Iranian officials. On June 24, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that Tehran would use all the assets released for its national interests and would not accept any restrictions. He added that the procurement decisions would be based on price and quality factors.
Meanwhile, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati affirmed that Iran has no obligation to buy US agricultural products, although Tehran also does not rule out the possibility of buying US goods if the price is competitive enough.
Iran's reaction came after US Vice President JD Vance announced earlier this week that Iran's released assets could be used to buy soybeans, corn and wheat from the US. A day earlier, US President Donald Trump announced that this money would be transferred to a US-controlled margin account and would only be used to buy food and medical supplies from the US, including corn, wheat and soybeans.
The US and Iran are promoting negotiations under the peace memorandum just signed on June 18. The memorandum stipulates that the two sides will conduct negotiations within 60 days to reach a final agreement on Iran's nuclear program and lifting sanctions. The latest round of negotiations takes place in Switzerland on June 22 and 23.
