A 454 Trillion-Won 'War Bill'... Will the U.S. Also Turn to South Korea?

It has been reported that a Reconstruction Fund for Iran was included in the ceasefire memorandum between the United States and Iran, and the possibility of participation by South Korean companies was also mentioned.
Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency said on the 15th (local time) that it had released a draft memorandum consisting of 14 articles and claimed that the United States and its allies would propose a $300 billion fund, or about 454 trillion won, for Iran's reconstruction. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance also said in a CBS interview that day, "If Iran fulfills its obligations to the end, it will be able to access something financed by Persian Gulf countries." Vance added that both sides had already signed the memorandum electronically on the 14th.


An unnamed senior U.S. official told the Financial Times (FT) on the 15th that the U.S. government would not contribute money to the Reconstruction Fund. Instead, he said private companies seeking to invest in Iran, a country with a population of 90 million and abundant energy resources, would create the fund. The official predicted that "Asian companies, including those in South Korea and Japan, as well as companies in Europe and the United States, are interested in the fund," adding that "if sanctions on Iran are lifted, the fund could grow to a substantial size."
The fund's operating method has not been disclosed. The official speculated that Iran's access to the fund would be decided subjectively rather than by whether it meets specific criteria. The exact form of the fund is expected to become clear only after the actual memorandum is released around the 19th.

The FT noted that U.S. President Donald Trump dislikes situations that make it appear as if he is politically handing financial benefits to Iran. On the 15th, Trump wrote on social media, "Iran has agreed never to possess nuclear weapons. At the same time, the story that the United States is paying Iran $300 billion is fake news spread by the Democratic Party."
pjw@fnnews.com Park Jong-won Reporter