Trump ties Iran sanctions relief to US farm purchases

US President Donald Trump said any sanctions relief granted to Iran would be tied to purchases of American agricultural products while insisting that Tehran would never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon under an emerging agreement being negotiated between the two countriesSpeaking at the White House after signing executive orders on quantum technology Trump offered his most detailed public comments yet on the state of ongoing negotiations with Iran describing the talks as productive and saying shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had returned to normal levelsldquoWe have an open strait and we have a country that will never have a nuclear weapon will never ever have a nuclear weaponrdquo Trump saidThe remarks came as Vice President JD Vance and a US delegation continued negotiations with Iranian officials in Switzerland where discussions have focused on the future of Irans nuclear programme maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and regional deconfliction mechanismsTrump said the administration was considering sanctions relief but indicated that any unfrozen funds would be channelled towards food purchases from the United StatesldquoOne of the things that we are doing also and it came up last night is money thats being unfrozen is going to be used to buy foodrdquo he said ldquoAnd the foods going to be bought exclusively through the United States from our farmersrdquoHe added ldquoCorn soybeans all of the things they need are going to be bought from our farmersrdquoAsked whether easing sanctions could allow Iran to rebuild its military capabilities Trump said the understanding was that the money would be used for humanitarian purposesldquoTheyre supposed to use money to buy food for their people because right now their people are very hungryrdquo he saidThe President also expressed confidence that the negotiations were moving in the right directionldquoWere doing very well in terms of negotiating a fair and reasonable dealrdquo he saidWhile declining to discuss specific enforcement mechanisms Trump warned that the United States would respond if Iran failed to comply with any agreementldquoIf Iran doesnt live up to their agreement or if theyre not behaving I will do what I have to dordquo he saidTrump rejected suggestions that Tehran had gained leverage in the negotiations and argued that recent military operations had significantly weakened Irans capabilitiesldquoTheir navy is gone Their air force is gone Their leaders are all dead Their whole country is a mess Their economy is shotrdquo he saidHe also praised Vances role in the talksldquoI think that theyre doing a fantastic jobrdquo Trump said ldquoI watched his news conference from Switzerland Hes a very smart guy He did a great jobrdquoThe President further claimed that energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz had rebounded strongly following recent tensionsldquoWe took in more oil yesterday than has ever gone through the straitrdquo he said ldquoThe strait is totally openrdquo