U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have been stressing in recent days that any frozen Iranian assets released under the new arrangement would go to humanitarian aid for the Iranian people. Trump also said the money would be used to buy food, specifically American-made food, so the funds would benefit U.S. farmers rather than Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The article argues that the practical result would be almost the opposite, because any money or food reaching Iran would free up billions of dollars inside the country for the Revolutionary Guards to use for terrorism and missile production. It says Trump is trying to soften the political damage after what it calls a humiliating U.S. signing of a shameful deal with Iran, and questions whether Washington can even insist that the frozen assets be spent on humanitarian purchases from the United States.
According to the piece, no such requirement appears to be included in the recently signed memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, so implementation would depend on Iranian goodwill. Even if the assets do reach ordinary Iranians in the form of wheat, soy and corn grown in the United States, the article says the move still shifts responsibility for feeding a population living under what it calls a terror regime from Tehran to Washington.
The article says Trump and Vance know that any money entering Iran will ultimately reach the Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah, the Houthis and militias in Iraq, whether directly or indirectly. It also says their emphasis on helping American farmers sends Israel a clear message that its security concerns do not matter, and quotes the article's own interpretation of Trump as effectively telling Israel to handle Iranian missiles on its own. The article adds that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he does not consider himself bound by the agreement, and concludes that Israel will eventually have to confront the Iranian threat again, likely on its own.
