US offers Iran $30 billion in investment in nuclear program without enrichment – CNN
Iran's Fordo nuclear facility (Photo: Flickr)

The administration of US President Donald Trump has offered Iran investments in its nuclear program totaling up to $30 billion in exchange for abandoning uranium enrichment. This was reported by CNN, citing four sources familiar with the matter.

The investment proposal is not final and is under discussion. According to sources speaking to the television channel, secret talks with Iran did not cease with the start of the Israeli military operation "Rising Lion" and continued after the ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel.

Some details were discussed at a secret, multi-hour meeting between US Special Envoy Steve Witzoff and Gulf partners at the White House the day before the US military strikes on Iran.

Among the previously unreported conditions are investments of $20-30 billion in a new, non-enrichment Iranian nuclear program to be used for civilian energy purposes.

One of CNN's sources said that the money would not come directly from the United States, but the US would facilitate investments from Arab partners.

Other incentives for Iran include the potential lifting of some sanctions and giving Tehran access to $6 billion currently frozen in foreign bank accounts.

On June 25, Witkowski stated that there are "signs" that an agreement with Iran could be reached, the TV channel reports.

Meanwhile, the following day, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first televised statement after the ceasefire agreement, in which he declared that "the Islamic Republic slapped America" and vowed that Iran would not surrender, despite Trump's calls, Reuters reports .

"US President Trump has revealed the truth and made it clear that the Americans will not be satisfied with anything less than surrender. That will never happen," Khamenei said.

  • On June 26, it was reported that preliminary intelligence data received by European governments indicated that Iran's stockpiles of highly enriched uranium were largely unaffected by the US strikes on key nuclear facilities.