
News Link • Iran
US Reportedly Mulls Easing Iran Sanctions, Assisting Non-Enrichment Nuclear Program
• https://www.zerohedge.com, by Tyler DurdenUpdate(1340ET): In an entirely bizarre and unexpected pivot, and following yesterday's Trump statements suggesting that a new Iran nuclear deal might not even be necessary (given the narrative that its enriched uranium and nuclear capability has been fullly destroyed), the White House is already in discussions for a deal both to ease Iran sanctions and potentially help the Islamic Republic build a civilian-energy-producing nuclear program, but importantly without domestic enrichment.
"The Trump administration has discussed possibly helping Iran access as much as $30 billion to build a civilian-energy-producing nuclear program, easing sanctions, and freeing up billions of dollars in restricted Iranian funds – all part of an intensifying attempt to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table, four sources familiar with the matter said," a fresh Thursday CNN report says.
"Key players from the US and the Middle East have talked with the Iranians behind the scenes even amid the flurry of military strikes in Iran and Israel over the past two weeks, the sources said," the report continues. "Those discussions have continued this week after a ceasefire deal was struck, the sources said."
The report says multiple early-stage proposals are under discussion, but all based on a key non-negotiable: that Iran must halt all uranium enrichment. However, this is one red line that Tehran has been insistent it won't give in to, as a matter of national sovereignty.
According to more from the CNN claims:
Among the terms being discussed, which have not been previously reported, is an estimated $20-30 billion investment in a new Iranian non-enrichment nuclear program that would be used for civilian energy purposes, Trump administration officials and sources familiar with the proposal told CNN. One official insisted that money would not come directly from the US, which prefers its Arab partners foot the bill. Investment in Iran's nuclear energy facilities has been discussed in previous rounds of nuclear talks in recent months.
"The US is willing to lead these talks," a Trump admin source said. "And someone is going to need to pay for the nuclear program to be built, but we will not make that commitment." Arab partners would be pressured to foot the bill, the report emphasizes, also at a moment there's a new push to expand the Abraham Accords.