Vance Says Iran Asked to Delay Release of MOU, Estimates Damage at $1 Trillion

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance held a White House briefing on Iran on June 18.

Key remarks follow.

"Iran asked that the contents of the memorandum of understanding not be made public until Friday."

"We also wanted to release it as soon as possible. We had planned to publish the signed document immediately after both presidents signed it. This is speculation, but one reason may have been that they wanted to prepare a Persian, or Farsi, translation they considered satisfactory."

"Iran has suffered about $1 trillion in damage to national infrastructure over the past three months. The idea that selling just several million dollars of oil, or $2 million worth of oil, would fundamentally change Iran's economy is not true."

"The exact amount of the frozen funds has not been identified."

"We are currently discussing with the Cuban government how it can change course and improve the situation. If they make a wise decision, we will have a much better relationship with the island."

Lee Sang-eun, Washington correspondent, selee@hankyung.com