'Keep your SNAP advice': Ghalibaf hits out at Trump over his remark on Iran's economy

Iran's chief negotiator and Parliamentary Speaker, MB Ghalibaf, has hit out at US President Donald Trump over his comments on the country's economy and rising food needs.

"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," Ghalibaf said on X.

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 export food commodities to Iran eventually. 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."

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Trump also claimed that Iran had agreed to nearly all of Washington's key demands in the ongoing diplomatic talks, while reiterating that the primary goal of the negotiations was to ensure Tehran does not acquire nuclear weapons. "I think they've agreed to just about everything we need," Trump said.

Meanwhile, according to CBS News, the Trump administration said the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, is losing billions of dollars due to payment errors it describes as "fraud, waste and abuse". Anti-hunger advocates, however, argue that the characterisation is misleading and warn that it could jeopardise 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.

With inputs from agencies