By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed media reports that said his administration had discussed possibly helping Iran access as much as $30 billion to build a civilian-energy-producing nuclear program.
CNN reported on Thursday and NBC News reported on Friday that the Trump administration in recent days had explored possible economic incentives for Iran in return for its government halting uranium enrichment. The reports cited sources.
CNN cited officials as saying that several proposals were floated and were preliminary.
“Who in the Fake News Media is the SleazeBag saying that ‘President Trump wants to give Iran $30 Billion to build non-military Nuclear facilities.’ Never heard of this ridiculous idea,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late on Friday, calling the reports a “HOAX.”
Since April, Iran and the U.S. have held indirect talks aimed at finding a new diplomatic solution regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran says its program is peaceful and Washington says it wants to ensure Iran cannot build a nuclear weapon.
Trump, earlier this week, announced a ceasefire between U.S. ally Israel and its regional rival Iran to halt a war that began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran. The Israel-Iran conflict had raised alarms in a region already on edge since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.
The U.S. struck Iran’s nuclear sites over the last weekend and Iran targeted a U.S. base in Qatar on Monday in retaliation, before Trump announced the ceasefire.
Israel is the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons and said its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons programme in Iran.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Kim Coghill)
