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US President Donald Trump on Thursday flagged food shortages in Iran and pitched the Islamic Republic as a new market for American agricultural products.
Trump said that the United States will use frozen Iranian assets to buy American farmers' produce on behalf of Iran.
"We have a new market coming up, and that's called The Lovely Country of Iran. It's a beautiful place. Would anybody like to go there? They're having a hard time with food and we're going to be taking some of their money and we'll spend it and we're going to be buying wheat, soybeans, and corn, a lot of it, and that process is going to be starting soon. It’s going to be big," said Trump.
Iran, however, rejected the claim, with principal negotiator MB Ghalibaf saying the claim was false. He said that the "only crop we're harvesting is what you planted: decades of mistrust".
The exchange comes as Iran looks forward to receiving up to $24 billion once its assets in the United States are unfrozen as part the US-Iran deal under negotiations. The language of the memorandum of understanding that Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suggests the amount could be released before the signing of the final deal ending the war.
Trump's remarks appear to be an outreach to farmers —a core voter group— instead of an expression of the direction of the US-Iran negotiations.
Even as farmers have overwhelmingly supported Trump, they have suffered greatly in his second terms. They suffered billions in losses as Trump shut down a host of federal programmes that bought food from farmers for distribution via government programmes. He also shut down US Aid that used to buy food from American farmers to be distributed abroad, such as in conflict zones or some of the world's poorest areas.
Even though Ghalibaf has rejected Trump's claim, Iran is indeed undergoing a food crisis. The Guardian has reported that food price inflation has risen very much since the United States and Israel launched the war, with vegetable oil rising by 308 per cent, chicken costlier by 190 per cent, and rice costing 170 per cent more.
Trump said that the United States will use frozen Iranian assets to buy American farmers' produce on behalf of Iran.
"We have a new market coming up, and that's called The Lovely Country of Iran. It's a beautiful place. Would anybody like to go there? They're having a hard time with food and we're going to be taking some of their money and we'll spend it and we're going to be buying wheat, soybeans, and corn, a lot of it, and that process is going to be starting soon. It’s going to be big," said Trump.
Iran, however, rejected the claim, with principal negotiator MB Ghalibaf saying the claim was false. He said that the "only crop we're harvesting is what you planted: decades of mistrust".
The exchange comes as Iran looks forward to receiving up to $24 billion once its assets in the United States are unfrozen as part the US-Iran deal under negotiations. The language of the memorandum of understanding that Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suggests the amount could be released before the signing of the final deal ending the war.
Trump to Farmers: We have a new market coming up, and that's called The Lovely Country of Iran. It's a beautiful place. Would anybody like to go there? They're having a hard time with food and we're going to be taking some of their money and we'll spend it and we're going to be… pic.twitter.com/k2IUXVDZsD
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 25, 2026
Trump's remarks appear to be an outreach to farmers —a core voter group— instead of an expression of the direction of the US-Iran negotiations.
Even as farmers have overwhelmingly supported Trump, they have suffered greatly in his second terms. They suffered billions in losses as Trump shut down a host of federal programmes that bought food from farmers for distribution via government programmes. He also shut down US Aid that used to buy food from American farmers to be distributed abroad, such as in conflict zones or some of the world's poorest areas.
Even though Ghalibaf has rejected Trump's claim, Iran is indeed undergoing a food crisis. The Guardian has reported that food price inflation has risen very much since the United States and Israel launched the war, with vegetable oil rising by 308 per cent, chicken costlier by 190 per cent, and rice costing 170 per cent more.
