Iran is dangling what one person familiar with the negotiations described as a “commercial bonanza” to entice President Donald Trump into a nuclear deal, pitching massive investment opportunities in oil, gas, mining and critical minerals as indirect talks resume Thursday in Geneva, the Financial Times reports.

Two unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations said Tehran is floating the prospect of U.S. participation in its vast energy sector, aiming squarely at Trump’s appetite for high-return deals.

The lure of major investment deals was was “specifically directed at Trump, a major economic bonanza in oil and gas and mining rights, critical minerals and all of that,” said one of the sources familiar with the matter.

The outreach includes potential access to oil and gas projects, joint fields with neighboring countries, mining investments and even civilian aircraft purchases.

But a senior U.S. official flatly denied that any commercial proposal had been made.

“This was never discussed. President Trump has been clear that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon or the capacity to build one,” the official said.

The State Department has not responded to Newsmax’s request for comment.

Energy Pitch

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to hold another round of indirect talks Thursday with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Geneva.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told the Financial Times that Araghchi has highlighted potential economic cooperation in opinion pieces.

“In those articles, Araghchi talks about oil, gas and energy, where we have advantages and need modern technology, and where there is strong capacity,” Baghaei said.

Iran ranked as the world’s third-largest oil reserve holder and second-largest gas reserve holder in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It shares the world’s largest natural gas field with Qatar.

A second source familiar with the talks said discussions have included Iran offering U.S. investments in oil and gas, though no formal proposal has been presented to Washington.

The source added that Tehran is studying Venezuela as a case model after Trump pushed for U.S. oil deals there following U.S. action against Nicolás Maduro.

Ghanbari: ‘High Returns’ for US

Hamid Ghanbari, a deputy foreign minister, told Iranian businessmen this month that “common interests in the fields of oil and gas, including joint fields [with neighboring countries], as well as investments in mining and even the purchase of civilian aircraft, have been included in the talks with the U.S.”

He stressed that, unlike the 2015 nuclear deal under President Obama, it is “necessary for the U.S. to benefit from sectors that offer high and quick returns” to secure a “sustainable agreement.”

As part of any new deal, Ghanbari said Iran would expect sanctions relief and that Tehran would want the U.S. to unfreeze tens of billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenue held overseas.

Iran briefly opened to foreign investment after the 2015 accord, with Boeing signing a $20 billion agreement to supply aircraft to Iran Air.

That deal collapsed after Trump withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018 and reimposed sweeping sanctions.

Nuclear Standoff

The Trump administration and Iran have now held two rounds of indirect talks this month — the first since the U.S. briefly joined Israel’s 12-day war against Iran last June. Before that conflict, the two sides had held five rounds of negotiations.

At the core of the standoff is uranium enrichment.

The U.S. has insisted Iran must permanently end its capacity to enrich uranium — a step Washington argues is necessary to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran rejects that demand, saying enrichment is its right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and insisting its program is for civilian purposes. Before U.S. and Israeli strikes last year, Iran had been enriching uranium close to weapons-grade levels.

Caving to a permanent halt in enrichment is widely viewed as a red line for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump’s red lines appear equally firm. Witkoff said over the weekend that the president’s conditions include “zero enrichment” and that Iran must hand over its enriched uranium stockpile.

However, the public messaging is murky.

Regional officials, including Turkey’s top diplomat, have suggested the Trump administration signaled possible flexibility, potentially allowing Iran to enrich at token levels under a deal. Administration officials have disputed that.

Araghchi said on Tuesday that Iran “will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon” and would seek a “fair and equitable deal — in the shortest possible time.”

“We have a historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement that addresses mutual concerns and achieves mutual interests,” Araghchi wrote on X. “A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority.”

He also told MSNBC that Washington had not demanded a permanent halt to enrichment. “We have not offered any suspension, and the U.S. side has not asked for zero enrichment,” he said.

Escalation Risks

Trump, who has overseen the largest U.S. military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion, warned Tehran last week it had a “maximum” 15 days to reach a deal or “bad things will happen.”

In his State of the Union address Tuesday, Trump condemned Iran’s “sinister” nuclear ambitions and accused Tehran of “working to build missiles that will soon reach” the United States.

“My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy,” Trump said. “But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are … to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let that happen.”

Iranian officials have warned they would escalate in response to any further U.S. strikes and have signaled they may reconsider previous limits on retaliation.

Whether the competing red lines — zero enrichment for Trump and continued enrichment for Tehran — can be reconciled remains unclear. The public statements suggest both sides are attempting to preserve leverage while leaving room for maneuver, making it difficult to determine how much flexibility truly exists behind closed doors.