Four Iranian officials familiar with the plan said Iran proposed to build a joint nuclear-rich enterprise involving Arab and U.S. investment in a replacement for Washington's demand to remove its nuclear program.
Four Iranian officials said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi proposed the idea to Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy, when two men held direct and indirect talks in Oman on Sunday. They asked not to name because they were discussing sensitive issues.
On Tuesday, some Iranian media published a front-page account about Iran's “new plans at the negotiating table.” One of these media is Farhikhtegan, a newspaper affiliated to the Revolutionary Guard Corps. It raises the question of whether the proposal is “service or treason.”
Witkov's office, the State Department and the National Security Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the negotiations.
It is unclear how viable nuclear companies in the region might be if Iran and its two biggest competitors, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic relations for 45 years, and private U.S. companies may not be willing to invest in Iran's nuclear reactors.
President Trump visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to criticize Iran's support for activist groups in the Middle East, but said diplomatic resolutions with Iran would make the region safer.
“I want to make a deal with Iran,” Trump said. “If I could make an agreement with Iran, I would be happy if we were to make your region and the world a safer place. ”
However, he warned that Iranian leaders need to make decisions as soon as possible or they will face greater economic pressure from the sanctions. “Now is the time for them to choose,” he said. “Now, we don't have a lot of time to wait.”
Four Iranian officials and news reports said Iran's proposal would require the establishment of a three-state nuclear consortium, in which Iran enriches uranium to the lower level, below what nuclear weapons are needed, and then ships it to other Arab countries for civilian use.
A deal that enables Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67% will achieve similarities with the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the world's major powers. However, one major difference is that the on-site presence of representatives from other countries (even the United States) to provide additional oversight and participation.
The joint venture plan will be permanent unlike the 2015 nuclear agreement with a 15-year expiration date in 2015. This will lead Mr. Trump, who will withdraw the U.S. from the deal, to argue that he gets much more from Iran than President Barack Obama has.
Ali Vaez, director of the Iran International Crisis Group, said that while the risk-taking ideas are new and untested, negotiators need to try another approach. “Basically, they have to exceed the maximum zero requirement to save both sides of the face,” he said.
Iran and the United States appear to be in a deadlock ahead of Sunday's talks in Oman, Increase the risk of military confrontation. Both Iranian and U.S. officials said they wanted to avoid war and resolve the standoff diplomatically.
After weeks of contradictory remarks about what exactly Washington is asking for, Mr. Witkov told Breitbart News in an interview that the United States tried to completely remove Iran's nuclear program, meaning that it was not enriched and closed its three powers in Nataz, Fordov and Isfahan.
Iranian officials have repeatedly stated that the closure of nuclear plans would form a red line, and Foreign Minister Mr. Aragic quickly responded to Mr. Vitkov in an interview with Iranian media. He said Iran paid the price for its civilian nuclear program “with blood”, referring to nuclear scientists assassinated by Israel. He said that it makes uranium rich in civilian ranks the right to be “national pride” and an unnegotiable issue.
However, after three hours of meeting with Mr. Witkov and Mr. Aragic in Oman, both sides appeared in a reconciliational tone, describing the negotiations as productive and encouraging. They said negotiations will continue with professional technical teams that typically negotiate details about nuclear facilities and financial issues related to sanctions relief.
Oman Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said in a social media post that Sunday’s negotiations included “useful original ideas that reflect a shared desire to reach a glorious agreement”.
Mr. Aragic visited Saudi Arabia immediately after meeting with Mr. Vitkov.
It is unclear whether Saudi Arabia and the UAE are interested in nuclear companies with Iran.
Both countries say they are eager to reach an agreement between Tehran and Washington to avoid regional wars, but they both have ambitions to build a civilian nuclear program.
In 2020, Emirates became the first Arab country to open a nuclear power plant, saying it needed nuclear energy to reduce its dependence on oil, but with the U.S. agreement banned it from enriching uranium. This raises concerns that it can trigger nuclear programs among Arab countries.
Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian diplomat and a member of his nuclear negotiating team, initially wrote about the idea of a regional nuclear consortium in 2023 in the communiqué of the Atomic Scientists. Mr. Mousavian, now a Princeton scholar, wrote this together with the university's physicist Frank Von Hippel.
Mousavian said in an interview that if the proposal moves forward, it will address several problems in the United States. It will eliminate the direct threat to Iran's nuclear program by reducing its enrichment capacity and inventory. It will also address long-term concerns about Iran's reversal course, he said, just like Mr. Trump did a year after he withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018.
“If Trump announces a regional nuclear deal, it would be a huge victory,” Mousavian said. “It eliminates direct and future threats from Iran and embraces rich ambitions in the region and brings new deals for Americans.”
