The Trump administration has been quietly meeting with Iranian officials and floating various proposals to lure them back to the negotiating table for nuclear talks, according to a new report.
CNN reported Thursday that U.S. officials, led by special envoy Steve Witkoff, have been in talks with Iran even after President Donald Trump ordered massive strikes on three of its nuclear enrichment sites over the weekend.
Four sources told CNN that the Trump administration has discussed the possibility of investing $20 to $30 billion in a civilian non-enrichment nuclear program in Iran, as well as potentially lifting some sanctions so Tehran could access $6 billion sitting in foreign bank accounts.
“The U.S. is willing to lead these talks,” one 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.”
Two officials said the Trump administration suggested that U.S.-backed allies in the Gulf could pay to replace the recently bombed Fordow nuclear site with a civilian non-enrichment program.
“There are a lot of ideas being thrown around by different people, and a lot of them are trying to be creative,” one source told CNN.
“I think it is entirely uncertain what will happen here,” another source added.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump told reporters at the NATO Summit on Wednesday that he did not believe a new nuclear deal with Iran was necessary, even as he confirmed that the U.S. would hold talks with Iran next week, on a date yet to be agreed upon.
“We may sign an agreement, I don’t know,” he said. “They had a war, they fought, now they’re going back to their world. I don’t care if I have an agreement or not.”
Earlier talks between Washington and Tehran were due to be held in Oman, but were canceled after Israel launched a strike on Iranian targets.
Still, Witkoff told CNBC on Wednesday that the U.S. continues to seek a “comprehensive peace agreement.”
“Now the issue and the conversation with Iran is going to be, how do we rebuild a better civil nuclear program for you that is non-enrichable?” he said.
