Trump insists Iran wants to talk, as CNN reports ‘$30bn investment proposal’

WASHINGTON: A day after CNN reported that Washington US is considering offering massive investment to Tehran, US President Donald Trump on Friday said Iran wants to return to negotiations on its nuclear programme.

“So Iran wants to meet. As you know, their sites were obliterated, their very evil nuclear sites Trump told reporters at the White House, without elaborating.

Earlier, CNN, quoting sources, said the Trump administration had discussed “possibly helping Iran access as much as $30 billion to build a civilian-energy-producing nuclear programme, easing sanctions, and freeing up billions of dollars in restricted Iranian funds.”

It is “all part of an intensifying attempt to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table, the American TV channel said, while citing four sources familiar with the matter.

SEVERAL PROPOSALS

According to CNN, “Trump administration officials emphasized that several proposals have been floated. They are preliminary and evolving with one consistent non-negotiable: zero Iranian enrichment of uranium, which Iran has consistently said it needs.”

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These details “were hashed out in a secret” during a meeting between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and “Gulf partners” at the White House last Friday, it reported.

“Among the terms being discussed”, there is “an estimated $20-30 billion investment in a new Iranian non-enrichment nuclear programme that would be used for civilian energy purposes”.

WHO WILL FOOT THE BILL?

As far as the source of funding is concerned, the US “prefers its Arab partners foot the bill”.

“The US is willing to lead these talks” with Iran, the Trump administration official said. “And someone is going to need to pay for the nuclear programme to be built, but we will not make that commitment.”

Other incentives include potentially removing some sanctions on Iran and allowing Tehran to access the $6 billion currently sitting in foreign bank accounts that it is restricted from freely using.

The CNN says another idea is the Gulf States will pay to replace the Fordow nuclear facility with the non-enrichment programme.

COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT

“There are a lot of ideas being thrown around by different people and a lot of them are trying to be creative,” one of the sources told CNN.

On the other hand, Witkoff told CNBC that the US is seeking a “comprehensive peace agreement”. Another Trump administration official said all of the proposals are designed “to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon”.