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Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Thursday criticised US President Donald Trump over his remarks on Iran's economy and food needs, accusing him of projecting America's own domestic challenges after Trump said the United States hoped to export food commodities to Iran as part of a potential diplomatic breakthrough.
In a post on X, Ghalibaf said, "Imagine having forty-something million of your own citizens on food stamps and calling another nation hungry. This is not a proclamation. This is a projection. Keep your SNAP advice." https://x.com/mb_ghalibaf/status/2073111768503652757 "Our assets, our choices. Mind your malnutrition rates," he added. The remarks came after Trump, in an interview with CNBC, claimed Iran's economy had been severely weakened. "They have 300 per cent inflation, they're making no money," Trump said. Trump added that the US hoped to eventually export food commodities to Iran. He said, "They need food. They need corn, wheat, and soybeans, and we're going to have exclusively our American farmers provide that. Assuming we get to the position where we should get to." Trump also claimed that Iran had conceded to nearly all American conditions in the ongoing diplomatic talks while emphasising that the primary objective of the discussions remained preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. "I think they've agreed to just about everything we need," Trump said. According to CBS News, the Trump administration said that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, is losing billions of dollars because of payment errors it characterises as "fraud, waste and abuse". However, anti-hunger advocates say that description is misleading and could threaten food assistance for millions of low-income families. CBS News reported that the US Department of Agriculture said on June 24 that the food-stamp programme's payment error rate was 10.6 per cent for fiscal year 2025, almost double the 6 per cent threshold established as acceptable under the Republicans' 2025 "big, beautiful bill act" (OBBBA). The error rate last year amounted to more than USD 10 billion in improper SNAP payments across the US, the agency said. According to CBS News, SNAP provided USD 95.7 billion in benefits to American families during fiscal year 2025, meaning that payment errors accounted for roughly one-tenth of the programme's spending. (ANI)
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