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France pushes $15 billion credit line plan for Iran, if U.S. allows it

Other News Materials 3 September 2019 16:03 (UTC +04:00)
France has proposed offering Iran credit lines worth about $15 billion until the end of the year in return for Tehran coming fully back into compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal, an offer that hinges on Washington not blocking it
France pushes $15 billion credit line plan for Iran, if U.S. allows it

France has proposed offering Iran credit lines worth about $15 billion until the end of the year in return for Tehran coming fully back into compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal, an offer that hinges on Washington not blocking it, reports Trend referring to Reuters.

European leaders have struggled to calm confrontation between Tehran and Washington since U.S. President Donald Trump quit the deal, which guarantees Iran access to world trade in return for curbs to its nuclear program.

The United States re-imposed sanctions on Iran last year and tightened them sharply this year. Iran has responded by breaching some of the limits on nuclear material in the deal, and has set a deadline for this week to take further steps.

Macron has spent the summer trying to create conditions that would bring the sides back to the negotiating table.

An Iranian delegation was in Paris on Monday, including oil and finance officials, to fine tune details of credit lines that would give Iran some respite from sanctions that have crippled its economy and cut off its oil exports.

“The question is to know whether we can reach this $15 billion) level, secondly who will finance it, and thirdly we need to get at the very least the tacit approval of the United States. We still don’t know what the U.S. position is,” said a source aware of the negotiations.

A senior Iranian official familiar with the negotiations said: “France has offered the credit line of $15 billion but we are still discussing it. It should be guaranteed that we will have access to this amount freely and also Iran should be able to sell its oil and have access to its money.”

“President Macron is trying hard to resolve the issue and help to save the deal ... and we have overcome some issues and gaps narrowed but still there are remaining issues,” the Iranian official added.

A second Iranian official said: “Although the EU and particularly France have good will, they should convince the U.S. to cooperate with them....If not, Iran is very serious about decreasing its nuclear commitments. There is no logic to respect the (2015) deal, if it has no benefits for us.”

A European diplomatic source confirmed the $15 billion figure.

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