Iran should not use oil profits to rebuild military
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on June 22, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA, on the day he signed an executive order on Quantum Computing.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Monday remained risk-averse when asked if he could guarantee that Iran would not use profits from oil sales to rebuild its military following wars with the United States and Israel.
Trump said the money is expected to be used to buy American agricultural products.
But an Iranian central banker said the country has no obligation to buy agricultural products from the US
“Well, they’re not supposed to do that, so we’ll see,” Trump told CNBC’s Eamon Javers at the White House during an executive order-signing event when asked if he could make sure Iran wouldn’t use its oil money for that purpose.
“But they need to use the money to buy food for their people, because their people are so hungry right now, and they’re only getting it from us: corn, soybeans,” Trump said.
“There must be a lot of money,” he said. “I hope it’s a lot of money.”
Trump also said that Iranian funds frozen under the memorandum of understanding between the two countries “will be used to purchase food, and the food will be purchased from our farmers only through the United States, and the corn, the soybeans, everything they need will be purchased from our farmers.”
“So our farmers are very happy,” Trump said.
Trump’s answer came hours later Treasure Secretary Scott Bessent has authorized imports of Iranian oil and refined products into the United States until at least August, in light of productive peace talks between the Islamic Republic and the United States in Switzerland.
Last Thursday, the US Navy lifted the blockade of Iran’s ports and coastal areas, which has greatly reduced the amount of Iranian oil loaded for export since April.
“There is no obligation to purchase agricultural inputs from the United States,” Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of Iran’s central bank, told Iranian news agency Tasnim on Monday.
“According to the signed notes, there is no obligation to purchase agricultural inputs from the United States,” Hemmati said, according to Tasnim.
Hemmati also reportedly said that if the price and quality of US products were better than other countries, there would be no obstacle to purchasing American products.
“We need to purchase essential goods and medicines worth billions of dollars a year, and it does not matter to us from which source we pay for these essential goods,” he said, according to Tasnim.
