Iran is poised to attract up to $300 billion in investments from the very Gulf states it targeted with drones and missiles throughout the more than three-month-old war — if it can get its act together, Vice President JD Vance said Monday.

“That’s the sort of thing they could have access to, funded by the Gulf Coast Coalition, so long as they honor their end of the obligation,” Vance told CBS News on Monday, when asked whether the US-Iran memorandum of understanding electronically signed Sunday allowed for a “$300 billion reconstruction fund.”

While the vice president made clear that the funds — meant for Iran’s reconstruction — will only be paid upon Iran meeting certain requirements, critics are skeptical, as the MOU’s text has yet to be released and Iran has not acknowledged the conditions attached to the funds.

“We absolutely are open to the Gulf Coast countries investing in the reconstruction of Iran, but only if Iran ends their nuclear program, ends their enriched stockpile of material, and is really open to an inspections and enforcement regime that gives the American people confidence they’re never going to have a nuclear weapon,” Vance said.

The veep also stressed to Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the “Iranians don’t get a dime unless they behave and change their behavior” and will “never get a dime of American taxpayer money. Ever. Full stop. Not even close.” (Read more from “Iran Could ‘Access’ $300B for Rebuilding Under US Deal — Funded by Gulf States Attacked by Tehran” HERE)

As the government’s standing plummets to an all-time low due to a reckless disregard for the welfare of its people, mass protests sweep across major Iran’s cities, including Shiraz, Tabriz and Tehran. Driven by a threat to their economic survival, the merchant class, or bazaaris, are leading the demonstrations.

This is not a news report from December 2025. This is the spring of 1891, the opening salvos of the Persian Tobacco Protest. Recognizing that unfettered concessions to foreigners pose a threat to both national sovereignty and their own economic interests, the powerful Shia clergy joined the merchants in an open revolt. It was Iran’s first bitter lesson in what happens when a ruler sells out the nation to ensure his own political survival. It wouldn’t be the last.

Iranians know their history well, especially when it comes to confronting foreign aggressors. Amid whispers of diplomatic backchannels and leaks about potential deals, Iranian officials have taken to the social media platform X to send cryptic, and at times humorous, references to past triumphs. Most notably, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei invoked the Sasanian Empire’s victory over Roman Emperor Philip the Arab, when Rome was forced to accept peace on Persian terms in the 3rd century.

But make no mistake: these posts are not cautionary tales directed at the United States and Israel alone. They can also be read as stern warnings to Tehran’s own negotiators. Any concessions, or capitulations, made by the Islamic Republic can trigger severe domestic backlash because in the Iranian historical imagination, yielding an inch inevitably leads to Western exploitation and destabilizing protests. For Iran’s hardliners, a deal is tantamount to surrender.

This mindset can be traced to what Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature at Columbia University, describes as a “long historical memory which is very much alive and resonant in their contemporary politics.”

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr