I still disagree. Let’s say you and I write down the following: I, Little Nemo, will sell my car to you, Exapno Mapcase, for ten thousand dollars. and we both sign this agreement.
But then when we meet and you hand me the ten thousand dollars, I jump back in my car and drive away.
I didn’t use some clever weasel words like “sell” and “car” and “ten thousand dollars”. I just lied and then stole your money. And the police aren’t going to listen when they show up at my door and I try to tell them I have my own interpretation of what those words mean.
But let’s say when you called the police to report I robbed you, they say that my dad is the mayor and he’ll fire any police officers who try to arrest me.
So I broke the law but I will face no consequences for breaking the law because there’s nobody who can punish me. This doesn’t mean I was clever and I outsmarted you.
And not being smart brings us back to Trump. He didn’t outfox Iran. He just promised to do something and then broke his promise. But he’ll get away with it.
As I’ve said, I feel the benefit Iran will gain out of Trump not paying up is that will be able to say that the United States reneged on their end of the agreement and therefore Iran is free to develop nuclear weapons.
The operative word is “Hormuz”. If Iran decides too much money is going to some Jared Kushner scheme they’re going to back out and close the strait. There’s no need to scrutinize the details to this degree.
What the agreement actually says is irrelevant. What matters is what the nations involved can spin it as. And the deal, such as it is, gives Iran a lot of room for that.
According to how the deal was worded. The United States of America undertakes, with regional partners, to develop a definitive mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 Billion, for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The mechanism for the implementation of this plan will be finalized as part of final Deal within 60 days. All required licenses, waivers and permissions needed for the relevant financial transactions will be granted by the United States of America.
We agreed to develop a plan, with regional partners.
It is a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding
The agreement further says, “The United States of America undertakes, with regional partners, to develop a definitive mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 Billion, for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The mechanism for the implementation of this plan will be finalized as part of final Deal within 60 days.”
But Trump initially denied that the fund was part of the deal during a June 17 press conference with the Egyptian president in France.
“Well, it’s false,” Trump said in response to a reporter who asked about the $300 billion fund, which was mentioned in a draft of the memorandum of understanding that had been leaked to members of the press.
“It’s false. People, you can invest if you want. What am I going to do, say nobody’s ever allowed to invest? We’re not invest[ing]. We’re not putting up 10 cents. People can decide to do that, but that’s up to them,” Trump said. “We are not investing in it, and we do not have a fund.”
While the memorandum of understanding says that the U.S. will help develop the plan for the $300 billion, and grant all “required licenses, waivers and permissions needed for the relevant financial transactions,” Trump and Vice President JD Vance have insisted that none of the money intended for Iran’s reconstruction and economic development will come from U.S. taxpayers.
Although numerousnewsorganizations published a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, they said it was given to them by a source or senior U.S. official who provided it on condition of anonymity.
So we arent even sure if that was the real final wording.
When a reporter asked Vice President JD Vance on June 18 who would fund the $300 billion, Vance said, “There is a great desire from the Arab world and from outside the Arab world to actually get involved in Iran if they behave properly.”
He cited the United Arab Emirates as an example. If the country wanted to invest in building a power plant, “that actually is impossible right now because of the way that U.S. sanctions work,” Vance said. “And so what we’re saying is that if you behave, and if the Emiratis themselves want to build a power plant, then we will do the sanctions relief necessary to make that possible.”
He said he assumed private money would play a role, but even that “assumes a transformation in Iranian behavior.”
Reuters cited an anonymous source when it reported June 17 that half of the fund had already been committed as “a private investment vehicle” involving no government money or grants.
Now wait a minute- when I pointed the US has enough oil for domestic uses, someone said that doesnt matter, as oil is fungible (true) and when oil prices go up due to international issues- our oil prices go up also (also true, sadly). So, Iran oil is gonna ship oil 6000 or 7000 miles to us, when we can get it from either internally, or Canada, Mexico and Brazil (like we usually do)?? I mean I know we export domestic light crude and import heavy crude, but this is kinda nuts.
Maybe there will be some shipped to the U.S. on tankers, coming to the U.S. to pick up a specialized refined product, that would otherwise be empty. Or maybe there is some specialized product unavailable in this hemisphere. I, and probably the Bulwark writer as well, do not really know.
A concern is that it isn’t a hollow promise. Somebody speculated that Trump could announce that his plan is a program of guarantees for private investors. The maga idiots could all proclaim that Trump made a deal with all private investment. And Trump’s billionaire cronies could dump money into Iran, knowing that when Iran kept the money, the United States government would repay them with interest. So Iran and billionaires would benefit while American taxpayers have to pay the cost.
LOL