Axios reports that the US and Iran are negotiating over a three-page plan to end the war.
It details:
One element under discussion being that the U.S. would release $20 billion in frozen Iranian funds in return for Iran giving up its stockpile of enriched uranium.
S&P 500 futures are up 40 points, roughly doubling on the headlines.
Importantly, the report also says that there has been “steady progress” in negotiations though “significant gaps remain”.
Other details say that talks are likely in Pakistan on Sunday with support from Egypt and Turkey. It notes that the US is particularly concerned about Iran accessing the 450kg of 60% uranium buried in underground nuclear facilities.
The US offered to release $6 billion earlier in negotiations and Iran demanded $27 billion. The US asked Iran to send the nuclear material to the US while Iran offered to down-blend it to power-generating levels.
Under
a compromise proposal now under discussion, some of the highly enriched
uranium would be shipped to a third country, not necessarily the U.S.,
and some of it would be down-blended in Iran under international
monitoring.
The report also says the deal includes a voluntary moratorium on nuclear enrichment.
On Thursday, Trump said to the press that Iran had pledged during negotiations to issue a definitive statement affirming they will not pursue nuclear weapons. He also said a deal was very close.
The report says it’s not clear if there’s anything in the deal on ballistic missiles and support for regional proxies, something Iran hawks have called for.
This is yet another sign that a deal is close but also note that the stuff at the end is always the hardest and that markets have surely priced in a 95% chance of a deal already. The Nasdaq is up 12 days in a row and futures point to a 14th gain.
This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.
