New York : As the United States and Iran begin working toward a possible long-term agreement, many countries in the Gulf are increasingly worried about one key issue: how much Iran might ultimately benefit from the deal.
Instead, the unease focusses on what Iran could receive if negotiations succeed and whether the deal does enough to address decades-old worries over Iran’s military ambitions. Among the issues drawing the most attention is the possibility of a reconstruction package worth as much as $300 billion for Iran. The memorandum of understanding says Washington “undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development” of Iran.
Many are also concerned that the memorandum of understanding signed last week does not directly address Iran’s ballistic missile programme. Those concerns carry particular weight in countries that host American military bases. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar all play big roles in Washington’s security architecture in the Middle East. During the war with Iran, all of them also faced Iranian missile and drone attacks, including strikes on civilian infrastructure.
Speaking after talks in Switzerland, US Vice President JD Vance revealed details of a proposal that could determine how billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets are handled if sanctions relief moves forward. “We wanted to make sure that we set up a process where if we ever unfreeze Iranian assets, we can ensure that money, that Iranian money, goes to help the people of Iran and not to fund terrorism,” Vance said.
“Jared Kushner actually came up with a very interesting solution with the Qataris, where basically — again if there is any frozen Iranian assets that are unfrozen — then we have approval over that process, the Qataris have approval over that process, and then the money would actually go to buy American corn and American wheat for the benefit of the Iranian people,” he added.
Negotiators initially focused on between $6 billion and $25 billion frozen in overseas accounts. However, estimates say Iran may have between $100 billion and $120 billion in assets locked up around the world because of sanctions. A major part of his trip will centre on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a significant portion of the world’s oil and gas supplies passes.
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