The United States and Iran have reached an agreement. While the deal is set to take effect on Friday, we still do not know its full details. What we do know is that the U.S. is lifting its naval blockade on Iranian ports and that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen. Vice President JD Vance announced that the full text of the agreement will be released this week and confirmed on CBS that a $300 billion reconstruction fund is part of the deal. The Iranian side has made a similar claim.
As we wait to see the full text, if the $300 billion figure is accurate, this could become one of the most disastrous agreements in U.S. history. During the Obama administration, under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Islamic Republic gained access to roughly $50 billion to $55 billion of its previously frozen assets. The U.S. also separately transferred $1.7 billion to Iran as part of a legal settlement with the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. In January 2016, the Obama administration sent a plane loaded with cash — the first of three such shipments.
