
US Proposes $30 Billion Investment and Unfreezing of Funds to Revive Iran Nuclear Talks
Despite recent Israeli-Iranian military attacks, talks have gone on. According to insiders, US officials and Middle East middlemen have been interacting with Iran behind closed doors.
According to CNN, which cited four people with knowledge of the situation, the Trump administration has been considering a number of options to get Iran back to the negotiating table, such as lifting sanctions, releasing frozen funds, and enabling a multibillion-dollar investment in a civilian nuclear energy program.
Despite recent Israeli-Iranian military attacks, talks have gone on. According to insiders, US officials and Middle East middlemen have been interacting with Iran behind closed doors. Since US President Donald Trump mediated a tenuous ceasefire this week, negotiations have accelerated.
Tehran has repeatedly rejected the administration’s assertion that zero Iranian uranium enrichment is a non-negotiable condition of all the proposals it has put forth.
CNN claims that the plan offers Iran a number of advantages.
$20–30 billion for civilian energy non-enrichment nuclear infrastructure.
respite from sanctions.
access to Iranian assets worth $6 billion that are presently blocked in overseas accounts.
Rebuilding the Fordow nuclear complex, which was recently hit by US bunker-buster bombs, into a non-enriching civilian facility is one proposal that has been put out; this may be financed by Gulf states that are allies of the US. Whether Iran would run that site under the current arrangement is yet unknown.
“The US is willing to lead these talks,” a representative of the Trump administration told CNN this. “And someone is going to need to pay for the nuclear programem to be built, but we will not make that commitment.”
The administration is seeking a “comprehensive peace agreement” and sees a chance to offer Iran a formal term sheet, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff told CNBC on Wednesday. According to him, any new program must be based on the civil nuclear project in the United Arab Emirates, which forbids enrichment.
“Now the issue and the conversation with Iran is going to be, how do we rebuild a better civil nuclear programme for you that is non-enrichable?” “Witkoff said.”
Although he seemed unsure about the necessity of an agreement, President Donald Trump stated that discussions may take place next week. He declared on Wednesday, “I don’t care if I have an agreement or not,” despite reports that some of his aides believe a long-term nuclear agreement is necessary to keep the present ceasefire in place.
According to CNN, Qatar, a crucial player in the Israel-Iran peace, will keep mediating US-Iran negotiations.
A scheduled sixth session of talks between the US and Iran was disrupted in Oman by Israel’s strikes after five rounds of talks. Intermediaries informed Iran prior to the US strikes that the US demand for no uranium enrichment remained constant and that the action would be limited.
“We may sign an agreement, I don’t know,” Trump stated during the NATO meeting on Wednesday. “I could get a statement that they’re not going to go nuclear, we’re probably going to ask for that.”