US-Iran nuclear talks: The United States has reportedly floated several proposals towards Iran in an attempt to bring the Middle Eastern country back to the nuclear programme negotiations, including offering help to Tehran to build a non-enrichment nuclear facility, easing US sanctions, and freeing up Iranian funds.
Representatives from both the US and the Middle East have held discussions with Iranians in the past two weeks, even amid the fierce conflict between Israel and Iran, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The intense 12-day war between Iran and Israel came to an end on Tuesday after the two sides accepted a US-proposed ceasefire. Following this, discussions have continued, the report added.
Earlier this week, Iran's foreign ministry admitted that its nuclear facilities have been "badly damaged" by the US strikes. Both the US and Israel had launched attacks on Iran's nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow.
An early assessment report from the US intelligence, which allegedly was leaked, had however said that the US strikes only set back the Iranian nuclear programme by few months.
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While the proposals presented by the US are still evolving and in the preliminary stages, they all have one common non-negotiable condition: zero enrichment of uranium by Iran. However, Iran has time and again affirmed that zero enrichment is not possible.
{{/usCountry}}While the proposals presented by the US are still evolving and in the preliminary stages, they all have one common non-negotiable condition: zero enrichment of uranium by Iran. However, Iran has time and again affirmed that zero enrichment is not possible.
{{/usCountry}}At least one of the initial drafts reportedly includes several incentives for Iran, and some of these details were cleared out in a secret meeting between US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Gulf partners at the White House last week.
What is US offering to Iran?
Officials from the Trump administration and sources familiar with the proposal told CNN that one of the benefits for Iran is an investment of around $20-30 billion for a new non-enrichment nuclear programme, which could be used for civilian energy purposes.
While the money wouldn't directly come from the US, Washington prefers that one of its Arab partners pay for it out of its own pocket.
So far, Iran and the US have held five rounds of talks over Tehran's nuclear programme. However, the sixth round failed to take place as Israel launched a massive offensive against Iran, and the situation escalated from thereon in the Middle East.
"The US is willing to lead these talks. And someone is going to need to pay for the nuclear program to be built, but we will not make that commitment," the Trump administration official told the news outlet.
Another relief of Iran in the proposed draft is the removal of some sanctions on Tehran, which will allow the country to access the $6 billion fund sitting in foreign bank accounts. Though Iran is currently restricted from using this fund, the easing of some sanctions would help it to use it freely, CNN reported.
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The replacement of Iran's underground Fordow nuclear facility, which was heavily hit by America's bunker-buster bombs over the weekend, with the non-enrichment programme is another idea floated by the US. However, this will be paid for by US-backed allies in the Gulf, the sources told CNN.
“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 familiar with the talks reportedly said.
Another separate source familiar with the US-Iran nuclear talks expressed "entire uncertainty" over what will happen with these discussions.
The US has made it clear that Iran cannot enrich its uranium stockpile, but it may have a nuclear programme for peaceful civilian purposes. Washington has suggested that instead of enriching its uranium, Iran could import the enriched nuclear material.
US-Iran talks next week?
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that his administration officials would be sitting down with Iranian counterparts next week, hinting at a potential resumption of dialogue.
However, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has denied the resumption of any nuclear talks with the US. "I say explicitly that no agreement, arrangement or discussion has taken place regarding the initiation of new negotiations," he said.
“Some of the speculation about the resumption of negotiations should not be taken seriously," he added.