Donald Trump Denies US Paid Iran, Vance Says $300 Billion in Gulf Funds

US President Donald Trump. (doc The Trump White House-whitehouse.gov)

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump has denied reports that Washington will make payments to Iran. The denial came amid news of plans for reconstruction funds worth hundreds of billions of US dollars.

Based on the Anadolu Agency report, quoted Tuesday, June 16, Trump called reports about US funding for Iran "fake news".

"The story that the US paid Iran 300 million dollars is a fake news," Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform, Monday.

However, the number that Trump mentioned raised questions. He said "300 million US dollars", while a number of his government officials and international media discussed a much larger figure, namely 300 billion US dollars.

US Vice President JD Vance then explained that the plan for the 300 billion US dollar fund would not come from American taxpayers.

"Not a penny of that money came from the United States," Vance told NBC News, as quoted by Anadolu Agency.

According to Vance, the funds could come from Gulf Arab countries. However, such investments are only possible if Tehran makes its economy investment-worthy and starts to act like a "normal country".

A senior US official previously confirmed that billions of dollars in funds were indeed part of diplomatic discussions. However, the official stressed that any financial progress was closely linked to "performance".

The Financial Times reported that the establishment of the fund depends on the final settlement. The conditions include an extension of the 60-day ceasefire and the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is an important route for the world's oil shipments. Therefore, its opening is one of the main issues in the talks.

The Financial Times also said the funds were likely to be managed through a framework for private companies interested in entering the Iranian market, rather than direct government-to-government aid.