WSJ learns of US-Iran secret talks to 'reduce tensions'

US President Joe Biden's administration has secretly reopened talks with Iran to release its prisoners held by Tehran and contain its developing nuclear program, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

Talks between senior US and Iranian officials began in December 2022, according to the newspaper's interlocutors. During this period, representatives of the White House traveled to Oman at least three times.

In exchange for the release of American prisoners and restrictions on the nuclear program, Tehran is seeking revenue from Iranian energy, which is frozen due to US sanctions. In particular, Iranian officials demanded the return of access to $ 7 billion, which belong to Iranian funds and are stored in SOUTH KOREA, and to money received from gas and oil supplies and stored in Iraq, the WSJ specifies.

After the resumption of contacts, Washington approved a €2.5 billion payment to Iraq ( the money was frozen by US sanctions) for imports of Iranian electricity and gas, US and Iraqi officials said. In the US, they said that this transfer of funds is not related to discussions.

This "attempt at diplomacy," according to the WSJ, is focused on "reducing tensions" between the countries, which have risen sharply this year as Iran moved ahead with uranium enrichment and intercepted oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

In 2015, the United States, France , United Kingdom , Germany , CHINA , RUSSIA and Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program. In it, the parties agreed not to impose sanctions against Tehran in exchange for its refusal to develop nuclear weapons. The JCPOA envisaged, in particular, the limitation of uranium enrichment and the access of IAEA inspectors to all nuclear facilities in the country.

Nevertheless, already in 2018, under former President Donald Trump, the United States withdrew from the deal, accusing Iran of violating the agreement, and renewed sanctions against it. In response, Iran abandoned some of its commitments and resumed uranium enrichment in excess of the agreed level of 3.67%.

In September 2020, Biden announced that the United States was ready to return to compliance with the Iran nuclear deal if Tehran took similar steps. Several rounds of negotiations that followed did not lead to a new agreement.

In mid-February 2023, international observers discovered uranium enriched to a record 84% in Iran, BLOOMBERG reported . This is only slightly less than what is needed to create nuclear weapons.