The Trump administration offered Tehran foreign investments of $20 billion–$30 billion in a new Iranian civilian nuclear program, as part of the effort to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table, CNN reported Thursday night, citing four sources.

In addition, the Iranians also were offered sanctions relief and the release of about $6 billion in frozen assets in discussions that took place behind the scenes including during Israel’s operation inside the Islamic Republic, during which the United States struck the nuclear facility at Fordow and two other nuclear sites.

According to CNN, Trump administration officials said several “preliminary and evolving” proposals were put on the table with one non-negotiable requirement: zero uranium enrichment by Iran, which Iran has so far refused to commit to. CNN also reported that one of the proposals even reached draft form. Some of the details were revealed at a secret meeting held by Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, with Gulf states’ officials one day before the U.S. strike on Fordow.

According to an administration official, the investment money for Iran’s civilian nuclear program was not meant to come directly from the U.S. — which aimed for its Arab allies to fund it. “The US is willing to lead these talks” with Iran, the Trump administration official told CNN. “And someone is going to need to pay for the nuclear program to be built, but we will not make that commitment.”

Another idea that emerged last week, and is currently under consideration, would be for US-backed allies in the Gulf to pay to replace the Fordow nuclear facility with the non-enrichment program, two sources familiar with the matter said. It was not immediately clear if Iran would be able to use the site itself, nor was it clear how seriously that proposal was being considered.

“There are a lot of ideas being thrown around by different people and a lot of them are trying to be creative,” one official told CNN. “I think it is entirely uncertain what will happen here,” another source said.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that U.S. and Iranian representatives would meet next week — but the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry denied that. Sources familiar with the details said the talks are still being shaped, and no dates have been set.

Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv

Today, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “Two nuclear regimes rallied and planned to coerce Iran and its people into surrender, but they failed. We are at a historic turning point, and this moment will remain a symbol of the Iranian people’s resistance. All Iranians defended the country as one. We resisted for many years to preserve Iran’s nuclear rights, enduring various sanctions and pressures. They used all means against us, including threats and negotiations, to deprive us of our rights, but none succeeded.”

According to Araghchi: “The period of maximum pressure policy on Iran started with the beginning of Trump’s presidency. He tried to increase the pressure on Iran by issuing new threats, while simultaneously calling for negotiation. Trump issued threatening messages and calls for diplomacy, and our consistent policy has been that Tehran does not oppose negotiations, but is not willing to conduct them under Washington’s conditions. We rejected direct negotiations with Washington — and indirect negotiations with new conditions were proposed. I declare clearly that no agreement, settlement or dialogue has been reached to begin new negotiations.”

According to CNN, although Trump said he “doesn’t care” whether there is an agreement or not, in practice many of his advisers believe that pushing for a long-term deal will ensure the ceasefire holds over time. To this end, the Americans are also relying on Qatar’s mediation capabilities — which also played a key role in ending the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Now, according to one source, Doha will work in close cooperation with the U.S. to ensure this war does not re-erupt.

<< Follow Ynetnews on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Telegram >>