France pushes $15b. credit line plan for Iran
PARIS/DUBAI (Reuters) – France has proposed offering Iran about $15 billion in credit lines until year-end if Tehran comes fully back into compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal, a move that hinges on Washington not blocking it, Western and Iranian sources said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian said talks on the credit arrangement, which would be guaranteed by Iranian oil revenues, were continuing, but US approval would be crucial.
The idea is “to exchange a credit line guaranteed by oil in return for, one, a return to the JCPOA [Iran nuclear deal]...and two, security in the Gulf and the opening of negotiations on regional security and a post-2025 [nuclear program],” le Drian told reporters. “All this [pre]supposes that President Trump issues waivers.”
European leaders have struggled to dampen brewing confrontation between Tehran and Washington since US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal, which assures Iran access to world trade in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
The United States reimposed 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.
French President Emmanuel Macron has spent the summer trying to create conditions that would bring the sides back to the negotiating table. At a G7 meeting in France last month, Trump appeared open to the idea of credit lines, though US officials later ruled out lifting sanctions as a condition for new talks.
An Iranian delegation was in Paris on Monday, including oil and finance officials, for talks 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 $15b. 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 US 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 $15b. 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 [own] money.”
“President Macron is trying hard to resolve the issue and help to save the deal .. and we have overcome some issues and narrowed gaps but still there are remaining issues.”
A second Iranian official said: “Although the EU and particularly France have goodwill, they should convince the US 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 $15b. figure.