For a number of hold-your-breath weeks, as spring sizzled into summer season, the nuclear dealmakers of President Donald Trump’s USA and the Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Iran appeared astonishingly near a deal.
So shut that it appeared they’d quickly attain out and seize the deal. However nobody was prepared to succeed in out.
First, on Might 13, Iran’s chief proposer, International Minister Abbas Araghchi, proposed fixing our nuclear bomb fears by creating one thing few of us had thought-about: a regional nuclear energy consortium to provide solely low-grade enriched uranium to provide electrical energy for its Persian Gulf members — particularly: Iran and its current adversaries, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The consortium’s efforts could be internationally monitored by the United Nations’ Worldwide Atomic Power Company. Maybe additionally the USA?
Two weeks later, throughout talks in Oman, Trump’s chief proposer, envoy-of-all-things Steve Witkoff, proposed only a slight variation on Iran’s regional nuclear consortium. Group Trump even named the identical international locations and added yet one more: Oman. After all he included roles for the U.S. and the everlasting presence of the IAEA, to lastly assure transparency.
There was one key distinction — however it too ought to be solvable. Iran has stated it’ll by no means give up its proper to counterpoint uranium for civilian power makes use of. Which means no nuclear weapons. Low-enriched uranium for offering electrical energy is simply enriched at ranges simply above 3%.
Query: Why did everybody instantly begin proposing these items a few regional nuclear consortium?
Reply: Only a few hours earlier than Trump’s envoy unveiled his plan, the IAEA instantly introduced troubling information. Within the first months of 2025, Iran secretly doubled the quantity of its uranium that’s enriched all the best way to 60%. That’s only one fast step under the nuclear weapons stage of 90%.
Trump hoped you’ll overlook that when he scrapped former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal in 2018, consultants warned him that Iran would kick out the IAEA inspectors and cameras and secretly develop its enrichment in its pursuit of a nuclear bomb.
The concept of a Persian Gulf nuclear energy consortium has been studied and written about for years. In a June 2 article in The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, consultants from Princeton College’s Program on Science and World Safety, envisioned a consortium that’s strikingly comparable what Iran’s and America’s negotiators proposed. Princeton’s Frank von Hippel, Alexander Glaser, Zia Mian and Seyed Hossein Mousavian described how such a consortium may work and the position every nation would possibly carry out that might be acceptable to all regional adversaries.
Right here’s how their article — “A nuclear consortium within the Persian Gulf as a foundation for a brand new nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran” — divides the obligations:
Iran: Performs all sides of improvement, manufacturing and operation of the centrifuges which are key to the uranium enrichment. (However, apparently to appease Trump, Iran would carry out no precise enrichment by itself soil.)
Oman: Website of the ability the place all low enrichment of uranium would happen. It will be staffed by Iranian consultants and monitored by the IAEA.
Saudi Arabia: All mining of uranium, conversion to uranium hexafluoride and storage of enriched uranium would happen there.
United Arab Emirates: The consortium’s administration headquarters could be primarily based within the UAE, plus places of work of different collaborating nations — maybe together with Egypt and Turkey.
Since that article was printed, Trump officers eased their demand that Iran can not enrich any uranium. Iran enriching uranium to the bottom 3% ranges for electrical energy manufacturing could also be acceptable — when it’s monitored and all is clear.
Certainly one of Princeton’s consultants got here to this undertaking with an enormous time head begin. In 2005, Seyed Hossein Mousavian was a prime adviser to Iran’s future president, Hassan Rouhani, who was then secretary of Iran’s Supreme Nationwide Safety Council. Again then, Mousavian recalled, reasonable and hard-line Iranian presidents urged all future consortium companions to agree to finish their nation’s particular person enrichment efforts. They need to solely use the consortium’s enriched uranium — to guarantee nobody was secretly enriching.
As an adviser to Iran’s former leaders, Mousavian thought-about consortium plans since 2013. He noticed and understood issues way back that we and our leaders have to shortly study immediately. As Princeton’s consultants wrote a month in the past:
“A regional consortium has been proposed by each Iran and the USA as a option to bridge the hole between U.S. calls for that Iran haven’t any enrichment and Iran’s insistence that it’ll not quit its rights and achievements relating to enrichment.”
It’s time, as soon as once more, for all of us to guide our leaders. We will’t at all times belief. We should at all times confirm.
