President Trump was right to call reports of a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran “fake news.”

He should keep calling them that until the idea is dead, buried and impossible to revive under another name.

Vice President JD Vance has sought to reassure skeptics about the plan.

"The Iranians are not receiving any cash, and no funds are being released for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting," the Vice President said this past weekend.

Vance then said economic benefits would flow only if Tehran meets its obligations under a future agreement.

That is better than a blank check, but its suggests a $300 billion is still in the works and part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that starts a 60-day ceasefire.

Here's the central question: why should Iran receive access to any reconstruction fund let alone one with $300 billion?

The floated proposal makes no sense.

Worse, it is dangerous.

It would reward a maniacal regime not for reforming, not for compensating its victims, and not for abandoning terror as an instrument of statecraft.

It would reward Iran for surviving a war it provoked through decades of nuclear blackmail, proxy violence and regional aggression.

Let's put this in perspective.

For more than 40 years, Iran's rulers have obsessed over acquiring the capability to destroy Israel, threaten America and dominate the Middle East.

They call the United States the "Great Satan."

They have burned through tens of billions of dollars and effectively checked out of the civilized community of nations in pursuit of their dream: nuclear weapons.

They have repeatedly stated their aim publicly and loudly: "to wipe Israel off the map."

In the interim of that goal, Tehran has funded mayhem across the region.

Hezbollah, so clearly backed by Iran it has been part of their negotiations, has long terrorized northern Israel.

For 40 years Hezbollah has fired tens of thousands of rockets into Israel – costing billions in damage, thousands of casualties and hundreds of deaths.

The Houthis, another proxy of Tehran, have fired missiles at Israel and disrupted international shipping for years. [They have attacked U.S. naval ships with drones and missiles no less than 400 times!]

This is not a misunderstood regime looking for an off-ramp.

It is a revolutionary regime that made violence its business model.

Even the assassination of President Trump remains a priority business item.

By late February, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Western intelligence, Iran was dangerously close to a nuclear breakout – weeks if not days.

On February 28, the United States and Israel acted.

They struck Iran's nuclear and military infrastructure to prevent the nightmare scenario of a terror-sponsoring regime armed with nuclear weapons.

And let's be clear about the character of those strikes.

They were not Dresden. They were not Hiroshima.

They were not indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

They were over 2600 highly selective attacks aimed overwhelmingly at military infrastructure.

Of these attacks, the Financial Times says 2400 targeted missile sites, command-and-control facilities, launchers, air bases, drone facilities and naval assets.

Even a handful of reported hits on bridges or steel plants were tied to military logistics and weapons production.

So why, again, does Iran deserve $300 billion to rebuild?

To rebuild what infrastructure?

The missile bases? The drone factories? The command centers? The steel plants feeding its weapons program?

The regime’s machinery of war?

If anyone should be paying reparations, it is Iran.

Iran should compensate Israel for decades of Hezbollah attacks.

It should compensate shipping companies for Houthi attacks on international commerce.

It should compensate the Gulf states for unprovoked strikes on their civilian and energy infrastructure.

It should compensate the United States for attacks on American personnel and assets.

Tehran is not the victim here. It is the arsonist demanding money for smoke damage.

The Gulf states have particular reason to reject this scheme.

Countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain did not start this war.

They did not attack Iran.

While the U.S. and Israel struck Iran's military targets, Iran struck civilian sites, energy infrastructure and commercial assets across the Gulf.

These attacks included airports, ports, hotels, data centers, residences, industrial plants and oil infrastructure.

By any reasonable definition, deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure are war crimes.

Iran committed war crimes.

Energy analysts have estimated that war damage to Gulf energy-linked infrastructure at $58 billion.

The UAE, by many accounts, has borne the heaviest share of Iranian missile and drone attacks — including on civilian airports, ports, industrial facilities, hotels, and residential areas.

The world economy has also paid an enormous price as shipping and energy markets absorbed the shock.

So where is the $300 billion fund for the UAE and other Gulf allies?

Where is the compensation for Israeli and Gulf state businesses, families and workers harmed by Iran’s aggression?

If the United States is not paying, then who is supposed to pay?

Gulf states? The same Gulf states Iran attacked?

Not one dollar should flow from Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Manama or Kuwait City into a fund that strengthens the regime that targeted them.

Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., put it best when he said any reconstruction package for Tehran "would be akin to a Marshall Plan for Germany with the Nazis still in charge."

A just and reasonable peace with Iran must begin with core premises.

No enrichment. No missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. No proxy funding.

Full inspections. Full disclosure of uranium stockpiles. Reparations to victims.

Sanctions relief only after verified compliance.

And. please, no international reconstruction fund that strengthens the Revolutionary Guard.

President Trump deserves enormous credit for defending American interests and for helping to destroy Iran's nuclear program.

Previous presidents refused to take up this challenge, but Trump didn't choke.

Now negotiators and countries such as Pakistan that are trying to broker terms with Iran should understand this clearly: peace at any cost is not peace.

It is extortion.

The world should not reward Iran for its crimes.

The $300 billion Iran fund will not buy peace.

It will, most certainly, finance Iran’s next war.

Christopher Ruddy is CEO of Newsmax Media, Inc., a leading news company that operates Newsmax TV and Newsmax.com. Read more Christopher Ruddy Insider articles — Click Here Now.