Total Iran Economic Damage Estimate

Persians are dominant but the Baloch and Kurd form substantial , often militarily hostile minorities, who would not call themselves Persian and are largely included as within the present-day lines due to decisions related to the British empire.

I'm confused about this investment vehicle. China, their largest external trading partner, is notably absent from the list. I'm assuming they would be willing to extend Iran credit and Iran would probably prefer to deal with a Chinese company over a US company. Are US companies going to offer lower loan rates than Chinese companies? Or is the US going to use financial controls to only allow Iran to conduct international business through approved banks?

It's kind of a nonsensical explanation. As you quoted, the source says it's "not a reconstruction or reparations program" but they go on to say it will be called the Reconstruction and Development Fund and that the program will "include securing loans, establishing credit lines or directly financing the reconstruction of sites damaged in the war ... and, more broadly, infrastructure affected by the conflict."

More is probably better for Trump if it's larger because it's more padding through which the deal can be engineered that "such and such" [friend/proxy of Trump] has to be destination company/supplier of reparations materials or other self-dealing benefits.

Don't make the mistake of thinking Trump cares about Iran, and how much money they have, at all.

He cares about being able to put on a good spectacle. Shooting down the JCPOA did that. Going to war with Iran did that.

This might be a geopolitical loss for the US, but that doesn't make it a personal loss for Trump, whose interests are not aligned with those of the US.

You mean like this executive also couldn't kick off an all-out war and keep it going for months without authorization of congress?

The executive cannot start wars either and yet…

Oh you're right, that'll definitely stop them /s

ETA: even a very hypothetical landslide Democratic Congress is substantially hands-tied over this deal. It's terrible and wasteful but going back on it is impossible.

Iran has been on the agenda ever since Bush made it part of the Axis of Evil, but I doubt a Harris administration would be doing what Trump is doing right now. Probably not going to war with Iran outright, and at the very least not doing so as recklessly and haphazardly.

I understand the de riguer thought terminating cliche in American political discourse is that both parties and all politicians are the same, equally corrupt, incompetent malicious, mere puppets bought by corporations and controlled by Israel, and therefore elections don't matter.

I'm not denying the Biden administration's complicity in aiding and abetting Israel's genocide or Harris's unwillingness to distance herself from it, both are disgusting, and the Democrats have no one but themselves to blame for their losses. But Donald Trump really has been qualitatively worse in what should be every conceivably relevant metric than everyone else in the field, including other Republicans.