Trump’s team wants him to accept the Iran deal, which he has already rejected

President Donald Trump Negotiators face the daunting task of trying to persuade President That the deal he had previously rejected was the best option for them Iran.

Last month, Trump initially gave his blessing to a so-called “cash for uranium” deal, under which the United States would release about $20 billion in frozen funds in exchange for Iran handing over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, sources familiar with the matter told WIRED.

Trump’s negotiators, Vice President J.D. Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, received repeated endorsements from the president while in Islamabad, giving them confidence that a deal was close.

But the deal collapsed, in part because Trump was warned by his team that there was a risk that he would be seen as giving Iran “pads of cash” — an echo of his often stated criticism of Iran. Barack Obama’s deal with Iran– Sources said he pulled the plug.

Except now, this is again the cornerstone of the current proposal.

Current negotiations to reach a memorandum of understanding that could guide talks on the nuclear agreement are focused on handing over to Iran its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and halting further uranium enrichment for a period ranging from 12 to 15 years, as Axios reported earlier. I mentioned.

In return, the United States is offering a package of billions of dollars to ease sanctions and gradually release the frozen funds after controlling the enriched uranium, in order to destroy it or mix it so that it cannot be used to make a nuclear weapon.

While the memorandum of understanding may bring Iran to the negotiating table, that framework is not materially different from what was previously discussed in Islamabad and rejected by Trump, who has repeatedly told his advisers in recent weeks that he is against sending money to Iran, sources told WIRED.

Some Trump advisers say the decision on whether Trump ultimately agrees to the framework will likely come down to how much he wants a deal. They add that there are few options to stimulate Iran, with financial aid being the most urgent.

“They’re going to have to do something like that, and it’s better than the Obama deal, so he should accept it,” one Trump adviser said, on condition of anonymity, referring to the JCPOA. Trump has long criticized this agreement because it includes provisions similar to those currently being discussed, such as a sunset clause on nuclear enrichment and the United States lifting some sanctions.

For all the machinations in the West Wing, it has not gone unnoticed in Trump’s orbit that some of his top players have been conspicuous by their absence from Iran, according to administration officials familiar with the matter.

Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser, was part of the group advising Trump on Iran. Physically speakingHe spends most of his time in his office in the West Wing overlooking West Executive Avenue rather than at the State Department.

Rubio was happy to brief reporters on Tuesday, but he only did so at the request of the White House, a person familiar with the matter said, as his advisers were concerned that his involvement in negotiations with Iran could collapse as easily as success.

In fact, given the downside risks, Rubioworld says they were surprised by Vance’s request to be part of the Iran talks — a claim denied by people close to the vice president, who said he took orders from Trump.

Instead, Rubio focused more on Cuba, and on Venezuela, where Assistant Secretary Caleb Orr has been involved in overseeing new private equity investments to rebuild the country’s oil infrastructure.