TEHRAN – Iran’s Parliament Speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Iran would need American agricultural products, pointing instead to food insecurity in the United States.
In a post on X, Ghalibaf rejected Trump’s characterization of Iran’s economic situation, writing, “Imagine having forty-something million of your own citizens on food stamps and calling another nation hungry.”
“This is not a proclamation. This is a projection. Keep your SNAP advice,” Ghalibaf added, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the U.S. government program that provides food-purchasing assistance to tens of millions of low-income Americans.
The exchange came after Trump alleged Iran was “making no money” and would need imports of “corn and wheat and soybeans,” adding that he wanted “exclusively our American farmers” to provide those products.
“Our assets, our choices. Mind
 your malnutrition rates,” Ghalibaf retorted.
In televised remarks, the speaker noted that Washington had previously maintained it would not release funds belonging to Iran but later agreed, following mediation efforts by Qatar and travel by Iranian officials to Doha, to release $6 billion in Iranian assets and commit to the release of an additional $6 billion.
American officials have made repeated claims about how these funds would be released, only to prompt pushback from Iranian authorities, Ghalibaf said.